Wharf delivers but Strauss is the star

Since then, he has contributed three half-centuries, three scores in the 40s - including yesterday's unbeaten 41 - and a hundred at Lord's to lift his average to 52 after 12 one-day internationals.

Strauss has looked a potential Test batsman for a couple of years, though even his staunchest supporters might have struggled to predict two centuries and three other scores above 60, in his first six outings.

But the 27-year-old had a distinctly modest one-day record for Middlesex (average 26 with only one century) when England picked him last winter. Even Strauss seemed surprised by his selection.

Coach Duncan Fletcher believed he would make an ideal middleorder batsman - rather than an opener - in limited-overs cricket, though, and now Strauss is being moulded into the No 4 successor to Graham Thorpe.

"I think that raised a few eyebrows at first," said Fletcher.

"But we wanted to get the side to bat around him at No 4 and he's got that manner about him where he can follow instructions.

"There will be times when he has to change his batting because no role is absolutely fixed. You've got to think on your feet, weigh up situations and decide what the pitch will allow you to do. But generally we want to bat around him and he's doing a good job."

There wasn't too much pressure on England yesterday when they set off in pursuit of a target of just 171. If there were any alarm bells ringing, though, they would have been triggered by the loss of Marcus Trescothick and Vaughan in the space of eight balls .

Enter Strauss to calmly close the door on India's attack, first in company with Vikram Solanki and then with Andrew Flintoff, who finished the game with 34 runs from 23 deliveries.

Debut-maker Wharf rightly earned the man-of-the-match award for dismissing the cream of India's crop in Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Although Steve Harmison can't have been far behind, after claiming the last three India wickets and completing his hat-trick.

They fielded brilliantly, producing a display much more athletic than anything seen during those five triangular tournament matches against the West Indies and New Zealand in mid-summer.

And an India total of 170 was tackled so efficiently that nearly 18 overs were unused when Flintoff hoisted the winning six. The only let down for England came with tall, floppy-haired paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji removing Vaughan for a duck.

That was not what the captain had in mind after five mid-season failures in one-day internationals, but it was a cracking delivery that swung late to brush his off-stump.

"There's not a lot you can do against balls like that," Vaughan said with a rueful smile. "But there's always Friday."

Tomorrow's second meeting with India at The Oval will give England a chance to show that the standard they set in Nottingham can be repeated.

Flintoff is their only injury concern after taking a painful blow on his right thumb while fielding.