England crashes out of Coca-Cola Cup Rajiv Kumar - 11 April 1999 CricInfo report

England lost to India by 9 runs in a closely fought match at Sharjah on Sunday night and in the process was eliminated from the Coca-Cola Cup. Chasing 240 for victory, England were dismissed for 230 with seven balls to spare.

India won the toss and elected to bat. Angus Fraser and Darren Gough bowled exceptionally well to the Indian openers. Once again Ganguly (2) and Ramesh (12) struggled, both going cheaply.

Vinod Kambli, back into the Indian team, seemed to be in good touch. But some very good bowling from Fraser and Gough resulted in Kambli and Dravid being unable to accelerate the run rate. Fraser's opening spell was worth 8- 3-15-1. In an attempt to push the scoring along, Kambli came down the wicket and lofted the ball over the bowler's head. Hick running back from mid off took a sensational catch. After 20 overs India were 63/3.

Javagal Srinath was sent in as a pinch hitter. In the past he has often failed miserably in this role but today he was rather successful. In the 22nd over, Srinath smashed Flintoff for two boundaries on the leg side, one over mid on and the other through mid wicket. Dravid and Srinath added 59 valuable runs before Srinath was caught and bowled by Hick, having made 28 from 29 deliveries.

Ajay Jadeja was in very good form today. He made an unbeaten 74 of just 66 balls, which included seven boundaries. Good partnerships with Dravid, Singh and Nayan Mongia helped Jadeja to take the Indian score to 239 at the end of 50 overs. In the last 10 overs, India scored 71 runs.

The English innings once again began slowly as the Indian pace duo bowled very well. Alec Stewart struggled with his batting. In the 6th over, Knight was dropped in the slips by Ganguly of the bowling of Srinath. A costly mistake as Knight went on to be England's top scorer. Stewart was finally adjudged to be LBW in the 9th over of the bowling of Srinath, given out after the ball hit high on the pads.

In the next over Vince Wells came down the wicket and smashed Prasad for a huge six over the bowler's head. The next ball Wells tried to repeat the shot but Prasad bowled a slower ball. Wells mistimed it and Prasad took a good return catch. After 10 overs, England was 41/2. Mark Ealham, sent in as a pinch hitter, and Graeme Hick were out cheaply.

Nick Knight slowly grew in confidence and started attacking the bowling. On many occasions he lofted the ball over mid wicket to the fence. He and Thorpe built an valuable partnership of 58 runs. After 25 overs, England were 104/4.

Knight was finally out in the 29 over when he played onto his stumps. He had made 84 classic runs of just 93 balls which included 6 fours & 4 sixes. Andrew Flintoff was unfortunately run out after scoring three.

For the next ten overs, Thorpe and Fairbrother pushed the scoring along nicely. Thorpe smashed Singh for 11 runs in the 35th over. It included a cracking cover drive and lofted shot over mid wicket to the boundary. After 40 overs, England had made 180/6 and seemed in good shape to win the match. However in Prasad's final spell he took 2 crucial wickets and swung the match in India's favour. He clean bowled Fairbrother and Austin. Thorpe did not let these setbacks affect him and he attacked the bowling. He even flicked Srinath of his pads for a huge six.

Thorpe was finally out in the 48th over when he came down the wicket, missed a fuller length ball from Joshi and was stumped. England still needed 19 runs of 12 balls. The Englishman with the biggest heart, Darren Gough, refused to give up tamely. In the 49th over he smashed Srinath for a huge six over mid wicket. However 2 balls later Fraser was run out and England had lost by 9 runs.

For his excellent bowling (10-2-35-3), Prasad was the Man of the Match. England face Pakistan tonight, but their hopes of making the final are now dashed. India and Pakistan will play for the trophy on Friday.