India twice allowed strong positions to slip away on a Sharjah pitch which is turning a little more for the spinners with each game played.

Their failure, despite being 143 for one in the 31st over of their innings and having Pakistan in trouble at 144 for five in the 32nd over of the reply, means that the finalists will not be known until the last qualifying game between India and the West Indies tomorrow.

Pakistan, who have to win again to have any chance of qualifying, may be without Inzamam-ul-Haq, who batted after pain-killing injections yesterday, having injured an arm in the field, but they had three champions in reserve in Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis and Aamir Sohail. They are the best side in the tournament, which is not necessarily to say that they will win it.

There were no empty seats yesterday. Whereas Alec Stewart's sergeant-majorish tones had echoed round an almost empty ground when England beat the West Indies on Saturday, individual voices were lost amid the bedlam 24 hours later as India and Pakistan traded blows in a match which had to eliminate one side or the other. A few plastic bottles were thrown at one point but the atmosphere was as good-humoured as it was excited, on and off the field.

Sachin Tendulkar chose to bat first, which was neither here nor there, but he was twice tactically at fault later, first when he delayed his own arrival at the crease after a rampant Navjot Singh Sidhu had been dubiously given run out by the third umpire, and then, crucially, when he replaced his two spinners with medium-pacers when they were on top.

Rajesh Chauhan took a brilliant left-handed return catch from a fierce return drive by Shahid Afridi to check a barnstorming start by Anwar and Afridi in pursuit of India's 239 for seven. Six overs later Anil Kumble trapped Ijaz Ahmed on the back foot with one of his fizzing top-spinners and when the two spinners followed up with the wickets of two of the young players being blooded here, India were on top.

Anwar, however, was still there, scoring mainly off his legs as the Indians tried to deny him room for his favourite off-side strokes, and Tendulkar fatally decided to use up the overs of his two ordinary bowlers - Saurav Ganguly and Robin Singh - in mid-innings.

Ganguly, whose elegant 90 had occupied 44 of India's 50 overs, did take Inzamam's wicket from a top-edged late cut to Saba Karim, standing up, but Moin Khan steered, hustled and bustled superbly and he and Anwar had settled the issue by the time that Anwar reached his 14th one-day international hundred, eventually making 104. No fewer than seven of them have been made in Sharjah.