England celebrate at Lord's

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England clinched the NatWest Series in style at Lord's with an impressive seven-wicket win over India.

After failing to get the job done at Headingley and The Brit Oval, the hosts came out on top in the seventh and final match thanks to an excellent bowling performance.

Andrew Flintoff and Dimitri Mascarenhas claimed three wickets apiece as India were bowled out for 187 in under 48 overs.

Despite some early blips in their reply, England cruised home with more than 13 overs to spare.

Fittingly skipper Paul Collingwood was at the crease when the winning runs were struck by Kevin Pietersen, the pair both finishing up with unbeaten half-centuries.

Batting first

India will look back on their choice to bat first after winning the toss, a decision somewhat forced upon skipper Rahul Dravid by the composition of his line-up.

James Anderson set the tone for a day of English dominance by getting Sourav Ganguly, who he had struck on the head earlier on, caught at second slip.

He also had Gautam Gambhir caught excellently by Luke Wright at square leg before Lancashire colleague Flintoff came on to make further inroads.

The all-rounder, back in action after missing the last two matches, though still not 100 per cent fit, claimed the key scalps of Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

Controversy

Neither batsman looked too impressed with umpire Aleem Dar for giving them out caught behind.

While replays suggested Dravid may have got a thin edge, Tendulkar certainly seemed to be unlucky as his bat seemed to clip his pad, rather than the ball, before going through to Matt Prior.

India never managed to recover from the setback of being 59-4, Mascarenhas' medium-pacers proving the perfect foil to the three seamers.

The Hampshire man dismissed Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh and Piyush Chawla to finish with impressive figures of 3-23 from 10 overs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni attempted a one-man rescue act with only the tail for company, hitting four fours and a six in his 69-ball 50.

He was eventually the last man out, Anderson hanging on to an excellent catch in the deep to give Flintoff a third scalp.

Early struggles

Just as they had done at Old Trafford in the fourth game of the series when chasing a relatively low total, England lost early wickets against the new ball.

The decision to promote Wright to the top of the order in place of the dropped Alastair Cook failed to pay off as he lasted only two balls, while Sussex team-mate Prior quickly became RP Singh's second wicket in the over.

However, the in-form Ian Bell (36) got the innings back on track, dominating a stand of 63 before Pietersen's poor call saw him run out at the bowler's end.

The breakthrough gave India some hope, though it quickly evaporated in the chilly September air when Collingwood got into his stride, smashing seven fours and a six to finish undefeated on 64.

The skipper's positive approach appeared to rub off on Pietersen who overcame a sluggish start to make 71 not out.

Their unbroken century partnership saw England home to claim their first one-day series win on home soil in three years.