Cricket: DELHI FLOPS; FIRST ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL: INDIANS SWEEP HOME England left to Singh when they're losing as spinner sparks collapse.

Byline: Mike WALTERS Cricket Correspondent

NEGLIGENT England squandered a winning hand with a display of reckless bravado and skipper Freddie Flintoff scowled: "This defeat will hurt, and so it should."

Even superheroes are fallible, and Flintoff must accept his share of the blame for a wanton, wasteful collapse in which India did not just get out of jail - they bust out of Alcatraz through the front door.

Chasing a modest 204 to draw first blood in the series, England collapsed from 117-3 in the 20th over to 164 all out and crashed to a 39-run defeat when they should have sauntered home.

Nobody was shot at the Feroz-e-Shah Kotla stadium this time, unlike four years ago when Flintoff was hit by a pellet gun sniper as he patrolled the outfield.

But some of England's batsmen might need a full metal jacket when coach Duncan Fletcher gets hold of them.

When Kevin Pietersen and Flintoff were plundering 60 runs for the fourth wicket in eight overs, England were cruising despite losing two wickets in the first over.

Suddenly the big bang twins fell in consecutive overs, and Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh tightened the screw with a match-winning spell of 5-31.

Flintoff admitted: "When Kevin and I were going well, we should have won. The lads are hurting because this was a wasted opportunity. We felt 204 was attainable because India's total was probably below-par on that wicket.

"But we lost wickets at bad times, and when Kevin and myself got out in the space of two overs it made things difficult for the other lads.

"One-day cricket is about managing risks, and today we didn't manage them too well."

Pietersen's 46 from 49 balls contained nine boundaries, including gorgeous shots through his favourite arc between mid-on and midwicket.

And Flintoff drilled Sri Sreesanth for two sixes in an over - one of them an 85-yard carry - in his 41 from 37 deliveries as England's middle order enforcers shared the match's largest partnership. But it all went downhill faster than the Cresta Run once Pietersen tried to reassert himself by slog-sweeping Yuvraj Singh, only to pick out Gautam Gambhir in the deep.

The sweep had claimed opener Matt Prior, who is struggling to make the grade as a one-day opener.

Yet when Rahul Dravid brought back Harbhajan next over and pressurised him with close catchers, Flintoff still chose to sweep - and promptly fell lbw.

Geraint Jones, shaping sweep (what else?), checked his stroke too late to prevent him being yorked by Harbhajan for a duck, and England's goose was cooked when Paul Collingwood fell to a brilliant catch at short leg by Mohammad Kaif.

Earlier, Kabir Ali's 4-45 had been the headline act after Flintoff had won the toss and inserted India, knowing Dravid's men had won their 10 previous oneday games batting second.

Liam Plunkett produced the ball of the match to knock out Dravid's middle stump after the skipper had been dropped on nought by Owais Shah at slip, and Ian Blackwell - another victim of the sweeping epidemic - was thriftier than a Yorkshireman in his spell.

It was a wasted effort, and Flintoff was right - this defeat should hurt a lot. Draw the curtains, nurse.

CAPTION(S):

FRED AND BURIED: India's five-wicket hero Harbhajan (right) claims the prize scalp of Flintoff, sparking an England collapse' UP AND DOWN: Kabir Ali celebrates after bowling Yuvraj, who later grabbed the wicket of Pietersen (below)