England's gamble with an all-seam attack backfired and allowed India to draw level in the NatWest Series with a thrilling victory under the lights in Bristol.

Despite claiming an emphatic 104-run win in the opening game of the seven-match series at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday, England decided to drop left-arm spinner Monty Panesar and choose 6ft 7in seamer Chris Tremlett on a surface they expected to be fast and bouncy.

However, instead of imposing themselves on India's starry line-up, they were hammered for a record total of 329 for seven and the tourists' decision to field two spinners ensured a nine-run triumph after limiting England to 320 for eight in reply.

As a calculated gamble it failed and halted any momentum England may have gained from their Rose Bowl triumph against an India attack deprived of Zaheer Khan, their best bowler, through illness.

From an early stage of India's innings, it became clear England's pre-match thinking was flawed with Sachin Tendulkar hitting a memorable 99 while Rahul Dravid hammered an unbeaten 92 off 63 balls to guide his side to their highest ever total against their opponents.

Even a career-best bowling display from key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who finished with five for 56 in only his second appearance since returning from an ankle operation, failed to stem India's boundary spree.

It prompted such concern in captain Paul Collingwood that he fiddled constantly with bowling changes and setting the field, resulting in England being 40 minutes late in completing their overs and a possible sanction for the captain.

A potential fine or ban was the least of Collingwood's worries early in the day, however, with Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly quickly establishing their dominance over an England attack with a 139-run stand spanning 20 overs.

Hampshire seamer Tremlett, who was hit for 72 runs in 10 overs on his previous one-day international performance against New Zealand in January, once again struggled to make an impression with his first three overs conceding 30 runs.

Even Dimitri Mascarenhas, one of England's most economical bowlers at the Rose Bowl, was expensive with his first four overs conceding 31 while Ravi Bopara's golden arm deserted him after being hit for 27 in his opening four overs.

It was left to Flintoff to finally break the stand and for a moment he thought he had claimed the prized scalp of Tendulkar for 57 when the batsman chipped to mid-off but even the tall figure of Tremlett could not quite collect the catch above his head.

Flintoff responded to the disappointment immediately by tempting Ganguly into an expansive drive which Collingwood caught running back from point.