At the 15-over mark India were 32 for two wickets, Jaya Sharma was six not out, and Mithali Raj three not out.

Openers Sumetra Paranjpe and Anjum Chopra struggled against the experienced England opening attack of Clare Taylor and Lucy Pearson and eight overs the score was one for 13.

Chopra had a problem getting off the mark and when she was trapped leg before wicket in the eighth over by Taylor she had still not scored despite having faced 20 balls. That seemed to kick-start Paranjpe into action and in the next over from Pearson she hit the first boundary of the innings with a fine cover drive and followed that up with two turned through mid-wicket.

But in the twelth over, Taylor struck again when Paranjpe edged a drive which flew to Laura Newton in the gully. She scored 11 and India were 23 for two wickets.

Pearson took a break after bowling seven overs in which she conceded 18 runs, seven of them wides.

Laura Harper, the off spinner, took her place and conceded two runs in her first over.

Around the 15 over mark light drizzle began but the umpires decided to carry on with play.

England were all out for 86 in the 36th over of the 45th over match.

Al-Khadir bowled only 6.5 overs and took her last four wickets without cost off 17 balls to beat the only other Indian woman to take five wickets, Purnima Chowdhury who took five for 21 against the West Indies at Faridabad in the 1997/98.

Al-Khadir was playing in only her sixth One-Day International and she had taken only four wickets in her five previous matches.

England's batsmen were all at sea against the combined Indian spin attack of Al-Khadir and left-arm spinner Neetu David who took one for eight from her seven overs.

As the pressure went on England to up their scoring rate, the risk factor grew and captain Clare Connor was run out for six, the result of a direct hit by mid-wicket fielder Jaya Sharma. Then in the next over, Sarah Collyer advanced down the pitch to off spinner Nooshin-Al-Khadir and was stumped by wicket-keeper Sulaksna Naik for five. England were in real trouble at 81 for seven wickets.

Laura Harper then played an exact replay in Al-Khadir's next over and was out for one. Al-Khadir completed the final rout when bowling both Clare Taylor and Lucy Pearson in the 36th over.

The end came with dramatic speed as the English conceded with barely a whimper.

The England side, asked to bat first by India, were 73 for five wickets with captain Clare Connor six not out and Sarah Collyer one not out.

Another key blow was struck when medium-pacer Anjum Chopra had the experienced England opener Charlotte Edwards caught, at gully, by Rumeli Dhar reaching above her head to pull in a good catch with Edwards out for 23 scored off 54 balls, and England 54 for three wickets.

Laura Newton looked to get on with things when first coming to the wicket but her efforts to get the ball through the field were not completely successful. She did play one lovely cover drive for four off medium-pacer Rumeli Dhar and another fine square cut of Chopra.

However, the Indian spin attack closed the scoring rate down significantly and worked effectively when picking up the wickets of Arran Thompson when she was bowled by left-arm slow bowler Neetu David for seven while Laura Newton followed in the next over, beautifully caught as a result of Rumeli Dhar's diving catch in the covers for nine. England, in the 26th over were 73 for five wickets.

David has been especially effective with one wicket for two runs from her three overs.

India's fielding was highly enthusiastic and with some of the catches taken it appeared there had been a significant improvement on the quality of performance from when the side was in New Zealand for the 2000 CricInfo Women's World Cup.

ClaireTaylor, one of England's most experienced batsmen was bowled by Anjum Chopra for 14 runs leaving England two for 49.

Still at the wicket was opener Charlotte Edwards who was on 21.

England looked to make a comfortable start but suffered from a mix-up in the third over when Kathryn Leng played the ball into the off-side. She set off for a run but was sent back by Edwards. Amita Sharma made a fine pick-up and throw from the extra cover area and scored a direct hit with Leng just short of her ground having scored only two.

Claire Taylor was immediately into run-scoring mode with some well-placed shots through the off-side and hit the first boundary of the innings off Amita Sharma, a lovely shot behind point.

Taylor had a life when on 11 after sending a sharp, low catch back in the direction of Jhulan Goswami but she was unable to get down to hold the ball.

Then having reached 13 Taylor almost ran herself out but a poor return from the field allowed her to escape.

Goswami ended her first spell with 19 runs off her five overs.

While Gowami and Anita Sharma bowled eight wides in the first 10 overs, the introduction of Rumeli Dhar and Chopra, tightened the scoring rate considerably and with the loss of Taylor's wicket, England needed to go through a rebuilding phase again.

Conditions had improved and there appeared every prospect that the match would stand a good chance of being completed. It was changed to a 45-over fixture with a reduced break between innings due to the late start caused by late rain.

The light rain that had delayed the start of play finally cleared long enough for the covers to be taken from the ground just before the scheduled start of play.

India won the toss and asked England to bat first. Conditions were cool with a light southerly breeze still blowing across the ground. There was still a prospect of rain interrupting play in the game which has become a 45-over match.

The teams are: England: Clare Connor (captain), Charlotte Edwards (vice-captain), Sarah Collyer, Mandie Godliman, Laura Harper, Kathryn Leng, Laura Newton, Lucy Pearson, Claire Taylor, Clare Taylor, Arran Thompson. (12th man, Dawn Holden).

India: (from) Anjum Chopra (captain), Mithali Raj (vice-captain), Jaya Sharma, Sunetra Paranjpe, Neetu David, Rumeli Dhar, Amita Sharma, Nooshin-Al-Khadir, Sulaksna Naik, Hemlata Kala, Jhulan Goswami. (12th man - Babita Mandilka).

The umpires are: D Cowie and M George.

Play was due to start at 10.30am but the match officials have decided until the weather clears before deciding whether any overs will be deducted from the 50 scheduled per side.

The match can be played until 8pm tonight so if the weather improved before 1pm today there is every chance a full game could be played.

The pitch block is well covered and the bowlers' run-ups are also covered.

A cool breeze is also blowing and the likelihood is that if the rain stopped the drying process could be completed very quickly.

The sides for the match are:

England: Clare Connor (captain), Charlotte Edwards (vice-captain), Sarah Collyer, Mandie Godliman, Laura Harper, Kathryn Leng, Laura Newton, Lucy Pearson, Claire Taylor, Clare Taylor, Arran Thompson. (12th man, Dawn Holden).

India: (from) Anjum Chopra (captain), Mithali Raj (vice-captain), Jaya Sharma, Sunetra Paranjpe, Neetu David, Rumeli Dhar, Reema Malhotra, Amita Sharma, Nooshin-Al-Khadir, Sulaksna Naik, Bindeshwari Goyal, Hemlata Kala, Jhulan Goswami, Babita Mandilka, Mamta Kanojia.