So much for the Indian Premier League. If it is the tournament that has pushed back the boundaries of cricket, as we are so often told, then it was of little help to India last night at Lord's. They are more experienced than most at the shortest form of the game, and in Twenty20's principal competition, but they became the first of the big names to depart the Super Eights.

England won because of three factors: Kevin Pietersen rose to the occasion for the first 13 overs of England's innings; Paul Collingwood, much maligned but having a good game, got his tactics right, preferring Ryan Sidebottom to Adil Rashid and encouraging England's quicker bowlers to rough up India's top-order batsmen; and India, faced with the pressure of losing and exiting, buckled. But it was mighty close.

If there was one moment when the match was sealed it was when James Foster pulled off a quicksilver stumping off Graeme Swann to send Yuvraj Singh, the master blaster, back to the pavilion with 12 an over needed. In truth, though, the damage had been done earlier, when the frailties of India's top order were exposed by pace.

Fidel Edwards had roughed up India on the same pitch on Friday, something that England and Collingwood had surely noticed. Accordingly, Sidebottom returned and he, Stuart Broad and James Anderson located a consistent length about halfway down the pitch.

The tactics were not particularly subtle but they were mighty effective. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were dismissed pulling short balls and Raina and Gautam Gambhir took blows to the body. They never looked like dominating.

When England batted, Pietersen did. Missing in action against the Netherlands, a returning hero against Pakistan and nullified against South Africa, he has been a bellwether for England's fortunes in this tournament. And not just this tournament, because statistics show that Pietersen averages close to 50 when England win and just 17 when they lose. How his team needed him last night as they stood and peered over the precipice.

If it was England's moment of truth then you sensed it had to be Pietersen's moment. Great players respond unerringly to the situation, just as narcissists revel in the attention. Pietersen had raised the stakes overnight by talking at length about his injury concerns, Luke Wright obligingly popped the tenth ball of the match straight up in the air. The stage was set.

He was quickly away, skipping down the pitch to R.P. Singh and smiting him straight for four, greeting the newly introduced Ishant Sharma with a blistering clip over mid-wicket and generally setting about India's bowlers with such intent that soon their fielding became ragged and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's sense of calm and control suffered a rare puncture.

That Pietersen preys on the opposition's mind was clear when the India captain turned to Yuvraj once the powerplay overs had been bowled. There is history between Pietersen and Yuvraj, of course, the latter's lollipop spinners mysteriously having caused the batsman some pain on the most recent tour to India. Under no other circumstances would Yuvraj have been Dhoni's first-choice spinner. This time Pietersen did not rise to the bait, playing the ball and not the man, and accordingly it was Yuvraj who was withdrawn from the attack after two modest and expensive overs.

Instead it was another part-time left-arm spinner, Ravi Jadeja, who brought Pietersen's charge to an end. Having deposited him into the middle tier of the Grand Stand, Pietersen moved across his stumps to repeat the measure but missed a full straight ball that hit a pad. He spread his arms wide once Steve Davis, the umpire, raised the finger, but Pietersen could have no complaint.

Thereafter, India's relief was palpable and England's reliance on Pietersen was exposed. Only 61 more runs were added in the seven overs after Pietersen departed and Dhoni's sense of calm returned quickly. Dimitri Mascarenhas, promoted in the order was made to look amateurish by Harbhajan Singh's clever variations of pace. Fourteen boundaries flowed from English blades; ten of those from Pietersen and Ravi Bopara.

Some day, England will win a match in which Pietersen plays a minor part. At that point, once they have kicked their addiction to an over-reliance on him, we will know that they are a force in the one-day game. Last night that didn't look like happening.