Pakistan lose two in a row as India win Rajiv Kumar - 13 April 1999 CricInfo report

Has the Pakistani bubble burst? Last night at Sharjah they lost to their arch rivals, India, by 6 wickets, their second successive defeat in the Coca Cola Cup. Technically this game might have been meaningless because both these teams have already qualified for the final but the result does have some profound significance.

For the Indians this win will go down as one of their best in recent memory. They won against all odds. Their top players Tendulkar, Azhar, Ganguly and Srinath did not play and they still won against a full strength Pakistan team. They won batting second, a feat that no other team has managed to accomplish so far in this tournament. A lot of the credit for the way India has performed in its last 3 games must go to its stand-in captain, Ajay Jadeja. He has brought new life and freshness to the team.

For Pakistan, it's time to think about winning the Coca-Cola Cup first.. dreaming of World Cup glory comes later.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Saeed Anwar looked in great touch. He played some glorious shots to the on-side fence. Afridi did not get a chance to blast the bowling because he was run out in the 4th over. Just after the run out was completed, Afridi, trying to make his ground, banged right into Mongia. It looked like a head-on collision between two cars! Mongia had to leave the field.

Ajit Agarkar, back after an illness, bowled well. In the 8th over he got Anwar to mistime a slower ball which was held easily by Jadeja. After 10 overs, Pakistan were 42/2.

Ijaz was trapped plumb in front of the wicket from Kumble's 1st delivery. The slowness of the pitch and excellent bowling by Kumble made life difficult for the Pakistanis. In the 14th over, Wasti completely misread Kumble's ball. The ball went over the stumps, hit stand-in wicket keeper, Dravid, and rolled to short fine leg. Inzamam set off for a single. Wasti was day dreaming and did not respond to the call. Inzamam was run out by a long way. At the end of 14 overs, Pakistan were 50/4.

Salim Malik and Wasti found scoring to be extremely difficult. These two batsmen added only 60 runs off 19 overs. Robin Singh was the pick of the bowlers and ended up with figures of 10-1-26-0.

When Wasti was finally out he had made 37 of 86 balls. The next man in, Moin Khan, played exceptionally well, as he usually does in a crisis. Malik and Moin picked up the scoring. They swept anything the spinners bowled. They added 73 valuable runs before Malik holed out to Jadeja. Some lusty blows from Moin ensured that Pakistan set India a target of 206.

With the fall of Khurasiya's wicket in the 4th over it did seem that India would once again go down meekly but that was far from what happened.

The Indian batting performance today was nothing short of sensational. At last Rahul Dravid seems to have figured out the importance of attacking the bowling. The rather slow wicket ensured that Akhtar was not lightning quick and Dravid punished him. He played some glorious pull shots from Akhtar's bowling.

Ramesh, at the other end, went from strength to strength. He did play and miss on many occasions but he put the bad balls away. His temperament is so good that he does not let anything bother him. Also, unlike Ganguly, he looked to take quick singles. Dravid also seemed to have finally learnt to drop the ball and take singles. In the middle overs both batsmen started attacking the bowling. Dravid played some exquisite straight drives of Akhtar. This upset Akhtar so much that he exchanged a few words with Dravid.

The confidence and determination with which these two batsmen played ensured that India would win today and win in style. Their partnership of 166 runs lasted from the 4th over to the 43rd over.

India would have probably won by 9 wickets but for a couple of run outs. Ramesh was first to be run out when he slipped and fell. He had made 82 runs of 131 balls. Dravid was also run out. There were a few anxious moments when Jadeja was caught at point. But Robin Singh and Kambli ensured that India won by six wickets.

Sadagopan Ramesh was named the man of the match. The two teams meet again in the final on Friday.