Battered, bruised and considerably bettered, England remain on course for the first 7-0 defeat in any one-day series after this latest heavy loss was inflicted with 38 balls to spare. Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad suffered injuries along the way to prompt the management to call up Sajid Mahmood, who has not featured since the World Cup last year, and Amjad Khan, the uncapped Kent bowler, from the Performance squad in Bangalore.

To add to the impression of a tour in disarray, Kevin Pietersen also needed treatment for a side problem and however that setback came about, it was not through excessive laughter. “Probably for the first time as captain I have been angry, really angry,” Pietersen said. “It is time for us to stand up.” His own hundred, completed despite being in obvious discomfort, meant nothing alongside the result.

Flintoff rolled his left ankle in the footholes and a team official tried to calm inevitable fears by saying that the problem is not thought to be the recurrence of the trouble that has required four operations. The player felt a twinge in the previous game in Bangalore four days ago, which was compounded last night by damp run-ups caused by dew creating slippiness when he landed at the crease.

England will take no risks with Flintoff in the remaining two “dead” games, in Guwahati on Saturday and Delhi three days later. Although they want to avoid a “brownwash”, the priority should be the first Test in Ahmedabad on December 11. Broad was unable to complete his ninth over because of soreness in his left hamstring and, with Ryan Sidebottom already ruled out, England had no choice but to send for reserves. Khan, a former Denmark international who has rebuilt his career after serious knee surgery in recent years, has been admired by England for his raw speed.

“Injuries are a huge concern,” Pietersen said. “I will be fine. Broad and Flintoff, we will have a look at.” He was more annoyed with the performance of the bowlers, whose waywardness allowed Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to put on 136 in the first 20 overs. No side in 14 one-day internationals at the ground had chased as many as the 271 required, but another dashing start by India meant that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina had time to rebuild when England briefly fought back with two wickets in two balls.

Dhoni had gambled by opting to bowl first knowing that batting is usually harder under lights. Pietersen would have done the opposite, but the evening dew could not excuse the way that Harmison and Broad in particular dropped short and wide too often.

“We are about 20 short every game at the moment,” Pietersen said. “The key was to hit the right angles and hit the deck hard. From the Pavilion End, we had a really good chance to get wickets because the pitch was uneven.”

India rested Gautam Gambhir and Munaf Patel and were distinctly sloppy in the first hour as England made a sprightly start. Pietersen’s first five scoring shots raced to the boundary, but he struggled increasingly to find power in his shots. The India seam bowlers also improved to the point where they conceded only 32 runs in the batting powerplay, taken after 40 overs with Pietersen and Owais Shah well set.

Paul Collingwood had given Pietersen support before forcing to long-on but Shah, the one player who is enhancing his reputation, continued in that vein in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 112 in 19 overs. It seemed that England had identified 250 as a decent score and 270 as something that ought to seal victory. Despite having wickets in hand they delayed the big acceleration until the last five overs.

Totals, however, are becoming greater and greater as 50-overs cricket becomes an elongated version of Twenty20, and India could have won even sooner but for an unfortunate leg-before decision against Sehwag on 91. He has now scored four half-centuries in the five matches, the fifties coming from 44, 61, 48 and now 41 balls. He went to the latest with a 4-6-4 sequence against Graeme Swann, who was helpless during his only over in the powerplay.

An exquisite late cut by Tendulkar off Samit Patel confirmed that his eye remains keen, but when Sehwag departed immediately after Ravi Bopara held a return chip from Yuvraj Singh, England could see light. It was not the end of the tunnel, but an oncoming train. Flintoff failed to make the further inroads needed and Dhoni and Raina added fifties of their own.

England had laid themselves open to criticism by scrapping practice on Tuesday. The decision was entirely valid after the 11.50pm finish at Bangalore on Sunday followed by a 7.30am departure from the team hotel for a flight the next morning. But if the best they could conjure at the team meeting in lieu of nets was to swap Alastair Cook for Ian Bell then the drawing board must be revisited. They require a change of policy, not merely personnel.

England
R S Bopara c Yuvraj b Zaheer 24
A N Cook c Tendulkar b Zaheer 11
*K P Pietersen not out 111
P D Collingwood c Zaheer b Harbhajan 40
A Flintoff c Tendulkar b Ishant 0
O A Shah not out 66
Extras (lb 14, w 4) 18
Total (4 wkts, 50 overs) 270

†M J Prior, S R Patel, S C J Broad, G P Swann and S J Harmison did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-68, 3-157, 4-158.

Bowling: I K Pathan 10-1-57-0; Zaheer 10-1-60-2; Ishant 10-0-54-1; Harbhajan 10-0-47-1; Yuvraj 10-0-38-0.

India
V Sehwag lbw b Broad 91
S R Tendulkar b Harmison 50
Yuvraj Singh c and b Bopara 6
*†M S Dhoni lbw b Swann 50
S K Raina not out 53
R G Sharma not out 8
Extras (lb 5, w 8, nb 2) 15
Total (4 wkts, 43.4 overs) 273

Y K Pathan, I K Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-136, 2-156, 3-156, 4-250.

Bowling: Harmison 10-1-50-1; Broad 8.4-0-54-1; Flintoff 9-0-43-0; Patel 3-0-23-0; Swann 7-0-56-1; Bopara 6-1-42-1.

Umpires: D J Harper (Australia) and A M Saheba.

Man of the match: V Sehwag.

India lead the seven-match series 5-0

Matches to come: Sixth: Saturday (in Guwahati). Seventh: Tuesday (in Delhi).