Akram's Glory - Pakistan's Sharjah Final
Rajiv Kumar - 16 April 1999
CricInfo report

Wasim Akram destroyed the Indian batting lineup, and Pakistan won the Coca Cola Cup Final easily. The one-day tri-series after winning by 6 wickets at Sharjah on Friday night.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. An obvious choice because the pitch was a good batting wicket. Wasim Akram chose to play even though he had a throat infection and a running temperature. He bowled the first over of the match. And what an over it was!

The very first ball struck Ramesh on the pads and there was a loud appeal for LBW. Umpire Darrell Hair turned it down. One ball later, Ramesh was struck on his back-foot and was clearly plumb in front. This time Hair ruled in favour of the bowler. India were 0/1.

The next ball was a beauty. Akram swung it back into Dravid who was struck on the pads. The umpire gave him out, leg before wicket. Dravid looked dazed and shocked. He had just made a golden duck! The ball might have nicked the bat before it hit the pads but that was not even clear in the television replays. India's top scorers in the previous match, Ramesh and Dravid, were back in the pavilion and the score was 0/2! And Wasim Akram was in line for his 3rd hat trick at Sharjah.

The hat trick ball that Azharuddin had to face was another classic Akram delivery. It swung late into the right-hander. Azharuddin was trapped plumb in front of the wickets. But he was not given out because Akram had bowled a no ball!

This first over, for all practical purposes, decided the fate of the match. India were unable to recover from the shock. They once again showed the world why they are a one-man team. Other than Tendulkar, no other Indian batsman can play well under pressure. India lacks a magical player like Kapil Dev who can change a game with courage and determination.

Akram continued to bowl brilliantly. He swung the ball both ways. His stunning first spell figures were 7-3-8-2! The other bowlers were very disciplined and maintained the pressure on the Indians.

Azharuddin scratched around for 14 balls before playing away from his body to a short-pitched delivery from Shoaib Akhtar. The ball took a thick deflection and was caught by Azhar Mahmood at 2nd slip. Instead of using his immense experience to rebuild the Indian innings, Azhar gifted his wicket away.

Ganguly was the only player who seemed to be interested in not losing his wicket. Azhar Mahmood removed Jadeja and Srinath in successive overs and India crashed to 51/5 by the 21st over.

India made very little progress. To add insult to injury, Robin Singh and Nayan Mongia ran themselves out in the span of 7 deliveries. Mongia tried to run on an overthrow but was punished by Youhana. After 35 over, India were a pathetic 95/7.

Even Ganguly, who seemed determined to hang around, gave up with a simple catch to long off. He could have and should have batted through the innings but seemed to gift his wicket away right after reaching the half century mark.

India were finally bowled out in the 45th over. They had equalled their lowest total at Sharjah, 125 runs.

The only question that needed to be answered was how long would it take Pakistan to win. Anwar and Afridi made a quiet start by playing the bowling on merit. Anwar was in great touch and played some beautiful shots on both sides of the wicket. In the 10th over, Anwar hooked a bouncer from Agarkar and was caught at fine leg. However, the ball was ruled a no-ball because it was above the batsman's shoulder.

Pakistan would have won by 10 wickets if it had not been for a inspired bowling spell from Kumble. Bowling from around the wicket, he frustrated Afridi into hitting the ball high in the air. Ganguly completed a fine catch. A few overs later, Anwar got a leading edge and Kumble completed a simple return catch.

Ijaz Ahmed and Inzamam played patiently and ensured that Pakistan won the Coca Cola Cup by 6 wickets. The highlight of the Pakistan innings was Inzamam smashing Agarkar in the 28th over for 4 boundaries on the on side to take Pakistan past the Indian total.

The awards were:

Interestingly, there was no Best Batsman award, but there was a man of the series and a player of the series!