Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar gave the Indian innings a rousing start as they raised 100 runs in just 14 overs.

Sehwag (57 of 49) was in his usual murderous self as he scored a 50 of just 40 balls while Tendulkar was playing a cool innings with a run-a-ball 41.

Earlier, Kevin Pietersen led from the front and slammed an unbeaten 111 as England posted 270 for four wickets in the fifth one dayer against India in Cuttack on Wednesday.

Put into bat, England sent Alastair Cook (11) to open the innings with Ravi Bopara (24) but the opening stand yielded only 33.

Coming at number three, Pietersen engaged himself in two crucial partnerships with Paul Collingwood (40) and Owais Shah (66 not out) to steady the ship and steer England to a respectable total.

Pietersen's 128-ball 111 -- his seventh ODI ton – was studded with 10 boundaries and a six, while Shah's unbeaten 66 came off 57 balls with nine fours in it. They stitched together a 112-run stand for the unconquered fifth wicket.

For India, Zaheer Khan grabbed two wickets conceding 60 runs in his 10 overs. For the visitors, Andrew Flintoff proved a huge let down today, falling to Ishant Sharma for a third ball duck. Even a change in the opening combination could not do the trick for England and both Cook and Bopara survived a couple of lbw decisions.

Playing his first match of the series, Cook became Zaheer's first victim in the sixth over and Sachin Tendulkar, at first slip, took a waist-high catch to execute the dismissal.

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