"Kanpur farce left bitter taste"

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is still fuming over the `farcical` conclusion to the third one-dayer against India in Kanpur and said the match has "left a bitter taste in the mouth".

Flintoff`s three-wicket haul, including in-form Yuvraj Singh, brought the visitors back into the match after they scored a modest 240 in their alloted 49 overs. However, it was not enough to see England through as India won by 16 runs on Duckworth-Lewis method after the match was truncated due to bad light.

"We gave it our all so to finish it like that left a bitter taste in our mouths. The lads were very down in the dressing room," he was quoted as saying. "You practice for two days building up to the game and then have a sniff of winning. It`s very frustrating.”

Flintoff was particularly critical of on-field umpires Russell Tiffin and Amiesh Saheba`s decision to play a 49 overs-a-side game after the match was started 45 minutes late.

"We lost some time at the start of the match and yet it was reduced by just one over-a-side. It got dark the same time each day so it was a bizarre scenario that we didn`t get the game in.

"I`m not saying we were favourites to win when we came off but all we needed was two quick wickets to be right back in the game. We thought we could pull off something," Flintoff said.

"Our total of 240 was probably about 25 runs below par. So we had to be aggressive and hit them hard with the ball," he said.

Flintoff`s arguments were also supported by former players who felt that the available floodlight facilities should have been used. "They could have started 40 minutes earlier. They should have turned on the lights to ensure there was a decent game of cricket," said former England coach David Lloyd.

"I know the captains had agreed not to use the lights but that decision should be taken away completely from the captains," he added.

Former India skipper Ravi Shastri echoed Lloyd and said, "If the ground has lights, use them. Otherwise, it is an absolute farce."