England were in deep trouble in the first ODI against India before the inclement weather came to the hosts' rescue and led to the abandonment of the match.
India's hopes of a maiden win over England this summer were jeopardised by rain in the first one-day international at Chester-le-Street.
After Parthiv Patel's 95 helped the tourists to 274 for seven, seamer Praveen Kumar prised out two quick wickets to give India control.
But with England 27 for two after just 7.2 overs of their reply the forecast rain finally arrived to send the players off at 1500 BST.
There must be at least 20 overs of England's innings for a result to be achieved although hopes of fulfilling that looked set to be undermined by more forecast bad weather and the fact there are no lights at the Riverside to extend play.
With the weather clearing the umpires scheduled the restart of play for 4.50pm and reduced England's innings to 32 overs.
That meant England were left with a difficult Duckworth-Lewis revised target of 224 to win the game.
India were clearly aware of the forecast when they came out to bowl as they tried to race through their overs, and claimed the key wickets of openers Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter.
Cook played on to Kumar after managing just four before Kieswetter was trapped plumb in front to leave England welcoming the rain.
Cook had earlier sent an injury-depleted India in to bat under overcast skies, but his decision did not go to plan as Parthiv fell just short of a first ODI century.
India were without seven of their World Cup winners after Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out with a toe injury before play that could end his tour prematurely.
But they hardly missed their star man thanks to Parthiv, who was dropped by local boy Ben Stokes on seven, as he formed the backbone of India's healthy score.
The diminutive left-hander punished England's seamers for bowling too short on a slow wicket, scoring 12 fours in a 107-ball stay.
The pace of the pitch highlighted the loss of off-spinner Graeme Swann, who was ruled with a stomach bug, although India were unable to call on Tendulkar as he joined an already long injury list.
The right-hander is due to have the injury assessed in the week as his hopes of remaining on tour were cast into doubt and, in his absence, Cook sent in an under-strength batting line-up.
Despite that, makeshift opening pair Parthiv and debutant Ajinkya Rahane made a solid start as they put on 82 in 16 overs.
Patel should have, however, departed on seven when Stokes, playing his second ODI in front of his home crowd, spilled a catch diving forward at gully off Tim Bresnan.
It would prove a costly drop as Parthiv anchored the innings in healthy partnerships with Rahane and Virat Kohli.
His opening stand with Rahane was ended when Stuart Broad made a quick double strike.
Rahane had pulled with authority during his 40 from 44 balls but was undone by a short ball he skied to Samit Patel on the fine-leg rope.
Broad struck again in his next over to remove Rahul Dravid, albeit with a questionable over-rule from the third umpire.
On-field umpire Billy Doctrove initially turned down an appeal for caught behind and while the HotSpot technology supported him, the audio did not and a bemused Dravid was sent on his way.
England failed to build on the double breakthrough, however, as Parthiv was joined by Kohli in a 103-run stand that formed the backbone of the innings.
They were aided by too many short-pitched deliveries, with Parthiv especially punishing, pulling the expensive Jade Dernbach for back-to-back fours.
Kohli was content to operate as a foil to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the middle overs and their 100-run stand arrived off 113 balls.
Parthiv looked set for a deserved first ODI century but was denied by a rush of blood when he flashed at a wide slower ball from James Anderson.
India's injury problems then worsened again when Broad pinned Rohit Sharma on the gloves with his first ball, with India confirming later he had sustained a broken finger.
Kohli then departed for 55, chopping on a Samit Patel delivery that kept a little low, before Suresh Raina (38) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (33) added 60 off 54 balls in the late overs.
Raina departed in the penultimate over to Dernbach before Bresnan took two wickets in successive balls, to remove Dhoni and R Ashwin, but a handy total was already posted.
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