Bopara and weather conspire against India

Ravi Bopara, who hit a brilliant 96, dives back into his crease after being sent back by Graeme Swann (GETTY)

Conspiracy theories can usually be debunked. This one will be harder than most. India are clearly the victims of a plot to ensure that they do not win a single international match on this wretched tour.

As in all high-level machinations, it involves several strands – their own ineptitude, bad planning, fatigue, dreadful luck with injuries and, most ludicrously, a combination of Ravi Bopara playing an innings of improbable control and the weather.

The tourists seemed to have done enough to win the fourth one-day international yesterday, having lost seven times to England this trip without reply. But it was not to be. They had to settle for a tie with England in a contest that was eventually as engrossing as it was fated to end in disappointing fashion. England have thus won the series with the score at 2-0 and it will be a long week for the tourists until the final match in Cardiff on Friday.

Rain intervened for the third and final time after clouds had scudded over Lord's for most of the afternoon. The tourists had just dismissed Bopara, caught on the boundary, to end a wonderfully authoritative innings of 96 with seven balls left.

England were then on 270 for 8, chasing India's 280 for 5. Had the over been completed without them scoring they would have lost under the Duckworth-Lewis system by one run; had Bopara blocked the ball with the dark cloud about to open, instead of trying to clip a six over wide midwicket, England would have won by one run.

As it was, his dismissal meant that England were level under DL, and a tie it was. In terms of the match it was a reasonable result but in terms of the tour it was yet another twist of the knife for India. If it was deeply unfortunate for them it was a justified outcome for Bopara, who hit well into gaps and ran for his life, regularly turning singles into twos. He put on 98 with Ian Bell (left) and while they were together England might have won in a canter. Bell, however, misjudged a chipped drive down to long off soon after he had passed 50, putting just too much pace on the ball.

That England were chasing quite so many was because of a grand fifth- wicket partnership between Suresh Raina and M S Dhoni.

At the start of it they hardly played an attacking stroke, by the end they could hardly stop playing them. The pair came together in the 26th over at 110 for 4 and had only taken the score to 136 in the 35th. By the 40th it was 171 and then 109 runs flowed in the last 10 overs. It was a mite worrying for England that they seemed powerless to stem the flow.