CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

When you've got a recent one-day record as bad as England's (seven defeats out of eight) the side you'd most like to meet is India. Mind you, when you've got a recent one-day record as grim as India's (eight defeats in a row against their arch enemies, Pakistan) the side you'd most like to meet is England, and yesterday's Coca-Cola Cup match in Sharjah was a classic case of a resistible force meeting a movable object.

Sadly, it was England who lost what could have been unkindly billed as the battle of the pygmies, despite restricting an Indian side lacking both morale and Sachin Tendulkar, to 111 runs less than they had haemorrhaged against Pakistan on Wednesday. England failed by 20 runs to match India's modest 222 for five, and have now lost their last six one-day internationals.

Alec Stewart managed to lose his 13th toss out of the last 18, although it wasn't quite the handicap that it had been in their first match given that the temperature had dropped from the previous day's 111F, to a positively chilly 91.

This time, in fact, it was the batting side who appeared drained largely because of a stomach bug in the camp which had, in the previous day's defeat against Pakistan, left India so short of fit personnel that their physio was named official 12th man.

Despite the fact that the pitch was the same one used for England-Pakistan, it had lost some of its pace and bounce, and while India's batting looked turgid, they probably deserve credit for realising that par was closer to 240 than 280. They were not, however, able to convey this to their volatile supporters, who handed out the traditional stick to anyone scoring slowly.

England made one change to the side beaten by Pakistan, preferring Ian Austin to Adam Hollioake, a reminder of how fortunes can change in a relatively short time. Sixteen months ago Hollioake captained England to victory in Sharjah, and was being groomed as a long-term one-day skipper.

Whatever lay behind the decision, it certainly wasn't calculated to improve the fielding, although the bulky Austin is an honest enough scuttler in the outfield. England's bowling was accurate, without being too searching, and the fielding was once again ordinary without being hopelessly pedestrian. One catch went down, when Mark Ealham shelled a skyer.

India were eventually nursed towards a semi-respectable total by their captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, who made an unbeaten 74 from 85 balls, although he only moved up a gear in the closing overs, clobbering sixes off Austin and Andrew Flintoff.

England, perhaps uncertain about how modest India's 222 really was, lost Stewart and Nick Knight to indeterminate strokes for only 25, and suffered another double setback in mid-innings, when Graeme Hick was stumped by replacement wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid (Nayan Mongia just having taken a blow in the teeth) and Graham Thorpe lofted the same left-arm spinner, Suresh Joshi, to long on.

At that point, with England 83 for four in 24 overs, the Lancashire pair of Neil Fairbrother and Flintoff came together in a liaison worth 72, but without managing to lower an asking rate of six an over.

Flintoff was then bowled attempting something violent with Vengatesh Prasad's slower ball, and although Fairbrother's redoubtable one-day improvisation brought him a well-earned half century, there was not enough batting at the other end for England to see the job through.