24.11.2008
- Under Mahindra Singh Dhoni's captaincy, India posted their fourth series win in ODIs - by 3-2 against Pakistan in India in 2007-08, by 2-0 (best of three finals)Commonwealth Bank series against Australia in Australia, by 3-2 against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2008 and by 4-0 against England in India in 2008-09.
- India recorded their fourth series win against England - their earlier bilateral series wins being by 2-1 in India in 1981-82, by 2-0 in England in 1990, by 5-1 in India in 2005-06
- India, for the second time in a bilateral series against England, have won the first four games - Rajkot, Indore, Kanpur and Bangalore. In the last bilateral series between the two countries in India, India had won the first four ODIs at Delhi, Faridabad, Goa and Cochin between March 28 and April 6, 2006 before losing the next ODI at Jamshedpur on April 12.
- Virender Sehwag, during the course of his 32nd fifty (69 off 57 balls) in ODIs (sixth against England) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, completed his 6,000 runs in ODIs.
- Sehwag is the sixth Indian batsman to aggregate 6,000 runs or more in ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar (16372) heads the table, followed by Sourav Ganguly (11363), Rahul Dravid (10585), Mohammad Azharuddin (9378), Yuvraj Singh (6460) and Sehwag (6033).
- Sehwag's feat of completing 6,000 runs in 190 innings is the fourth fastest for India, next only to Ganguly (147), Tendulkar (170) and Dravid (171). Yuvraj took 192 innings and Azharuddin 205 to reach the feat.
- Sehwag's strike rate of 99.32 is the best amongst the batsmen with 6,000 runs or more in ODIs. Australia's Adam Gilchrist is the next best with a strike rate of 96.94, followed by Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (91.03).
- The Indian batsmen with 6,000 runs or more in ODIs are:
Batsman M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 S.R.
Sachin Tendulkar 418 408 38 16372 186* 44.24 42 89 85.45
Sourav Ganguly 311 300 23 11363 183 41.02 22 72 73.70
Rahul Dravid 333 308 40 10585 153 39.49 12 81 71.22
Mohammad Azharuddin 334 308 54 9378 153* 36.92 7 58 74.02
Yuvraj Singh 221 203 30 6460 139 37.34 10 37 88.29
Virender Sehwag 195 190 7 6033 130 32.96 9 32 99.39
- Sehwag, with his aforesaid innings, became the first batsman to register three fifties in the present series - 85 at Rajkot, 68 at Kanpur and 69 at Bangalore.
- Sehwag's aggregate of 223 (ave.55.75) in four innings is exceeded only by Yuvraj Singh (319 at 159.50) in the present series.
- In his last 12 innings in ODIs, Sehwag has recorded 8 fifties (including a hundred - 119 against Pakistan at Karachi on June 26, 2008) and two forty-plus knocks.
- Gautam Gambhir (40) has extended his record for most runs in ODIs this year to 1119 at an average of 46.62, including three hundreds and seven fifties, in 27 matches.
- Yuvraj's tally of 319 (ave.159.50) is his second best in terms of run-aggregate, next only to his aggregate of 344 at an average of 172.00 in five-ODI series against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2005-06.
- Yuvraj became the second Indian batsman to make 300 runs or more in a bilateral series against England. Sachin Tendulkar was the first to achieve the feat - 377 (ave.53.43) in seven ODIs in the NatWest series in 2007.
- James Anderson is without a wicket in the first four games of the series, conceding 158 runs (economy rate 6.32).
- The economy rates of other English bowlers in the series so far have been - Broad (6.11), Flintoff (5.06), Swann (5.66), Harmison (7.35), Patel (7.85), Collingwood (6.44) and Pietersen (6.09).
- Owais Shah's 8th fifty is his second against India.
- Shah's 72 off 48 balls is his third best score in ODIs, next only to his 107 not out off 95 balls against India at The Oval last year (Sept.5) and 82 against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on October 4, 2007.
- Shah is the leading run-getter for England in the series - 170 runs at an average of 42.50, including two fifties.
- Despite his 41 off 30 balls today, Flintoff's batting record against India in India is below average - 334 in 15 innings at an average of 22.26 with just one fifty (S.Rate: 87.43).
- The 82-run fourth wicket partnership between Shah and Flintoff is England's best for any wicket at Bangalore, eclipsing the 70 between Graeme Fowler and David Gower for the third wicket on January 20, 1985.
- Sehwag's 16th Man of the Match award is his third against England.
