England crash to defeat in Jaipur

Andrew Flintoff's return to international action ended in defeat after England's batsmen folded in the ICC Champions Trophy opener.

His side were bundled out for just 125 by tournament hosts India, and despite a fightback in the field there were more than 20 overs and four wickets to spare when Harbhajan Singh struck the winning runs.

Captain Flintoff, batting at number three, fell for a duck in his 100th limited-overs appearance for his country and England never recovered from a position of 27 for four.

This was England's lowest total against India in one-day internationals and one small enough to threaten their most swift defeat in history.

When Steve Harmison's nightmare opening over - which cost 20 runs - gave the Indians a turbo-charged beginning to the chase, a speedier plummet to defeat than the one inflicted on them by Australia four winters ago appeared on the cards.

It took the Aussies only 74 deliveries to canter to their 118-run target in Sydney that night but such a rate was eclipsed by the Indian start as 45 runs came up from just 20 legitimate balls.

Although they managed to stem the flow either side of the three-quarter-of-an-hour break, normally designated between innings, and put in a more honourable display, the defeat means England will almost certainly have to beat both Australia and West Indies to progress to the semi-finals.

The day began in celebratory mood as Flintoff received a silver salver to commemorate becoming only the 12th Englishman to reach a century of one-day caps. The experimental use of him at the top of the order did not work, however, as he was one of a trio of leg-before decisions in a four-over spell.

A stand of 49 between Paul Collingwood and Jamie Dalrymple took the score into three figures but once the Indian spinners separated them the innings subsided.

Opener Sachin Tendulkar top-scored for the hosts with 35.