Nehra shatters England at Durban How many fans would have thought of stoning Ashish Nehra's house after India's dismal performance in the first two matches is debatable. Nehra has always been the back-up bowler, the third seamer who is supposed to keep things tight after Srinath and Zaheer do their stuff. But against England, Nehra opted for a change of role. After Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hit smart fifties in India's total of 250, Nehra ripped the stuffing out of England's middle order, bowling 10 overs of spiffy swing and seam to pick six wickets for 23 runs - the best by an Indian bowler in any World Cup. England's batsmen, for their part, were completely shell-shocked. After playing and missing numerous times against Srinath and Zaheer, they struggled with Nehra's awkward angle and impeccable line to repeatedly nick the ball behind the wickets. Only Andrew Flintoff showed any resistance, hitting 64 off 73 balls before falling as the final wicket of the innings, giving India a famous 82-run win.

The toss was very crucial - Ganguly England captain Nasser Hussain congratulated India after they crushed his side by 82 runs in their World Cup day-nighter on Wednesday but made it clear he felt the toss played a major role in deciding the match. Asked if his side had been undone by the bowling or the conditions in being dismissed for 168 in response to India's 250 for nine, he said: "A bit of both - they put the ball in the right area and it definitely seamed a bit more under the lights. "It just seemed to zip off the wicket. But all credit to India, their two left-armers did very well. And Sachin (Tendulkar) batted beautifully again," said Hussain. India captain Sourav Ganguly for his part said: "The toss was very crucial...but I don't think there are many more day-nighters. The semi-final (a day-nighter, also in Durban) is a long way off." The Group A game was similar in pattern to England's day-night victory over Pakistan in Cape Town on Saturday, when Hussain had won the toss. England had made 246 batting first and Pakistan, undone by extravagant swing, never challenged as they were bundled out for 134. "Obviously it was our turn to be on the other side of the equation. To bat under the lights was difficult," Hussain added. "We were lucky in Cape Town but we were unlucky here. But India played well." Looking forward to England's last game, against Australia, which England must win, Hussain went on to say: "You have to beat Australia at some stage to win the World Cup, so why not on Sunday? The bigger the game, the more nervous you are. We will be more nervous on Sunday."

India must play a fifth bowler - Imran Khan Former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan feels that beating India in Saturday's high-profile match could give Pakistan's World Cup campaign the fillip it needed. "The win would give them the self-belief they have so obviously been lacking throughout the tournament," he wrote in his column in the Electronic Telegraph. Imran went on to add that Waqar Younis, though, would have to be more daring in his approach if his team were to achieve this. "He (Waqar) must take risks and get the promising fast bowler Mohammed Sami into the attack to get extra firepower to capitalise on the breakthroughs made by Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar," the 1992 World Cup-winning skipper said. Imran also felt that India must play a fifth bowler as .on a good batting pitch this weakness can be exploited, especially if Pakistan get off to a decent start..

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