England abandon one-day series

England have cut short the ongoing one-day series against India following Wednesday's terrorist strikes in Mumbai but the Indian board remained hopeful that two-Test series, scheduled to begin on December 11, can yet be salvaged.

The decision to abandon the remaining two ODIs of the seven-match series was taken during a meeting between BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, England's managing director Hugh Morris, and the Indian team management in Bhubaneshwar. England will not travel to Guwahati this afternoon as scheduled and will remain in Bhubaneshwar overnight, while further discussions with the BCCI take place. "The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB," Morris said. "We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team."

The Indian team, which had a meeting mid-day, was informed by the BCCI about England's position. "We have been told England are going back home. So we are going to our homes," Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach, told Cricinfo. As of now, the Indian team has been asked to assemble in Ahmedabad on December 8, three days before the scheduled start of the first Test start against England.

Morris briefed the England team and management after the meeting with Srinivasan. "We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night's attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours." Morris said. He added that the ECB will wait on their own security report before deciding on their next move regarding the Test series.

The ICC said they had "no role to play in the current situation" regarding the England tour of India. "The arrangements for the tour itself is strictly a bilateral matter," an ICC spokesperson said. "The only time we would play a part is if there is a disagreement between the boards about whether the tour would proceed or not. In that case there would be a security assessment binding with the two boards."

Meanwhile, England's High Performance squad's tour has been called off and the players, currently training in Bangalore, will travel home immediately. The squad, which includes Michael Vaughan, Monty Panesar and Andrew Strauss, was scheduled to reach Mumbai on December 3 to play a practice game and train with the England Test side.

The strikes, including blasts and shooting incidents, were spread out across the city but the majority of them were in south Mumbai, the main tourist hub. In the early hours of Thursday morning, a major blaze was sweeping through the Taj Mahal hotel, a city landmark and the scene of one such attack, which was to host the two Test teams and was where the England side stayed during their warm-up period in Mumbai.

It is also where Middlesex were set to check-in on Thursday for their Champions League fixtures. Middlesex were due to leave London for Mumbai at 10am on Thursday to prepare for the Champions League but postponed their departure by 24 hours after being told that matches scheduled for Mumbai would be switched to Bangalore.

The Brabourne Stadium, venue of the second Test and scheduled to host three Champions League games, is in the middle of the area where most attacks have taken place. It is also the vicinity where most foreign tourists are likely to stay.

India power past Pietersen's ton

India 273 for 4 (Sehwag 91, Raina 54*, Dhoni 50, Tendulkar 50) beat England 270 for 4 (Pietersen 111*, Shah 66*) by six wickets
Whatever challenge is put in front of this Indian team they conquer it with skill and flair. In Cuttack, England managed their best batting performance of the series, led by Kevin Pietersen's unbeaten 111, but it was made to look a long way short as they cantered home by six wickets with more than six overs to spare. The hard work was done by an electric opening stand of 136 between Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, meaning the others barely had to break sweat.

As has been the case with each match of the series there were signs of improvement from the visitors, this time with the bat, as Pietersen and Owais Shah added 112 for the fifth wicket. Pietersen's seventh ODI ton was the first by an England captain outside of London and only the third by an England batsman in the last 30 one-dayers. However, any momentum gained during the final few overs evaporated as Sehwag sped out of the blocks with another display of fearless clean striking.

At times the bowlers could only shrug their shoulders as the ball raced to the boundary. When Tendulkar on-drove Andrew Flintoff, the bowler spun on his heals and headed back to his mark. It was batting in its purest form. Sehwag was set for a thrilling hundred before receiving a rough lbw decision, but the required rate was comfortable, leaving Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina to stroke steady half-centuries and keep India on course for a whitewash. It's hard to see how they'll be stopped, especially as Stuart Broad hobbled off with a hamstring injury.

Steve Harmison's second over, to Tendulkar, was a maiden but it provided false hope - 13 came off Harmison's next over as Sehwag cut loose. One shot, a front-foot pull over midwicket, was as dismissive as they come. In the blink of an eye, and a flash of Sehwag's bat, England were losing control. Flintoff was summoned into the attack, but even when the bat was beaten, or the inside edge found, there was no breakthrough.

Pietersen tried to make things happen. He experimented for one over of Samit Patel before calling the Powerplay, then threw the ball to Graeme Swann inside the fielding restrictions. To say the move backfired is an understatement: Sehwag proceeded to take 21 off the over. Swann was slammed through the covers three times and swung miles into the stands for a huge six before being given a rather hollow pat on the back from his captain.

Tendulkar's fifty was a quieter affair, but still took just 54 balls, played with textbook skill after a slightly sticky start. The moment he tried something a little more agricultural, heaving across the line, he lost his off stump to Harmison. England's celebrations were muted, partly because the damage had already been done and also because walking in at No. 3 was Yuvraj Singh - series average 160. But, Ravi Bopara, bowling just his 13th over in ODIs and for the first time this series, did what no else has threatened to do and removed Yuvraj cheaply with a gentle caught and bowled.

Sehwag was dispatched the next ball, Broad's first delivery of a new spell, and momentarily England's frowns turned to smiles. However, they couldn't build on the breakthroughs and Pietersen had to gamble on bowling out his strike options, while Broad couldn't finish his ninth over. Dhoni survived a close stumping appeal on 22, with 73 still needed, but it would have been unlikely to alter the result.

As is the modern way, England will no doubt "search for the positives" and Pietersen's hundred was a tick in the right column. He has led the call for the top order to score more centuries and showed how it should be done with a well-constructed innings.

Where Pietersen should bat has provided much debate inside and outside the England team. He has moved up and down during the previous two matches, rising to three in Kanpur then oddly back to No. 4 in the 22-over chase in Bangalore. Despite Shah's success in that match, hitting 72 off 48 balls, he was back at No. 6 and the captain returned to first drop. Still, though, making the most of the Powerplays was an issue as the two five-over blocks produced 45 runs.

It's all symptomatic of the muddled thinking in the England camp, but Pietersen's innings showed that No. 3 should be his long-term position, while Shah again demonstrated his flexibility with a 57-ball 66. With Paul Collingwood's continuing to struggle for form - he laboured 40 from 64 - Shah could well be on the move again to No. 4. One day, he might find a settled home.

On the theme of being unsettled, Alastair Cook and Bopara formed England's eighth one-day opening pair since Peter Moores took charge as coach in 2007. Both gave their starts away with loose strokes and the innings wobbled again when Flintoff fell for third-ball duck. Dhoni pulled off another impressive piece of captaincy, throwing the ball to Ishant Sharma when it would have been easy to maintain an all-spin attack against Flintoff. Dhoni can do no wrong for India, and his team continue to ride on the crest of a wave.

'You will see a few changes' - Dhoni

With his side sealing the seven-match series 4-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, has said the team will look to field the unused players in the squad for the upcoming games against England. 

"You will see a few changes in the side in the next three matches. Some of the people who have not played in the series so far will play but we still look to win games," he said. "Three more matches to come and we want to win those games." 

The game in Bangalore was reduced to a 22-over contest, and Dhoni felt his fast bowlers stood up on a day when the spinners found it tough in wet conditions. "Because of the wet outfield, the ball became soggy and it was not easy to grip the ball," he said. "We have one specialist spinner [Harbhajan Singh] and part-time spinners, it was really difficult for them. But then Zaheer [Khan] bowled very well, along with Ishant [Sharma] and Munaf [Patel]. Overall it was a very good team effort." 

Dhoni marshalled his bowlers well during the chase, and praised Zaheer for guiding the other bowlers. "I was not giving much advice. First I like them to bowl to their own plans and if that does not work I ask them to bowl according to my plans. 

"But Zaheer has been of great help throughout the series and has taken the extra initiative to help others. It has worked for us and we should be thankful to him." 

A 4-0 win over South Africa last summer gave the impression that England were improving as a one-day set-up under Kevin Pietersen, but he admitted his side had been outplayed so far in India. "We have been done in by an Indian side which is playing fantastic cricket at the moment," he said. "We came here on a high after the 4-0 win against South Africa back home and I guess we have to adjust to this series defeat now." 

Pietersen, though, was hoping to get back to winning ways soon. "We have to make sure that this competition stays competitive. We have to win a few games. We came here to win the series but we have not won the series. So we have to make sure we win a few game at least."