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Nine in a row Wisden CricInfo staff - July 12, 2002
India have another opportunity to shrug off their chokers' tag when they take on England in the finals of the NatWest Series at Lord's on Saturday. Since April 1999, they have reached nine finals in tournaments involving three or more teams, and have lost each time. Here's a blow-by-blow account of these matches: Ajay Jadeja led a line-up from which Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin were missing. Pakistan won the toss, batted first, and piled up 291. India were never in the hunt. They lost their top five wickets for 63, and limped to 168 all out.
Azharuddin won the toss and chose to bat, but India lost Sadagoppan Ramesh and Rahul Dravid in the first four balls of the match, and never recovered. They managed only 125 runs, which Pakistan polished off in 28 overs.
West Indies won the toss, opted to bowl and removed captain Tendulkar in the first over for a duck. Dravid scored a fighting 103 to take India to a respectable 254, and when West Indies lost five wickets for only 128, India held the whip. But Ricardo Powell dashed their hopes with a powerful 93-ball 124, which included eight sixes. West Indies coasted home with more than two overs to spare.
India had already beaten South Africa earlier in the tournament, when Sunil Joshi had spun a web around their batsmen with incredible figures of 10-6-6-5. India started well in the finals and reduced South Africa to 18 for three. But Herschelle Gibbs stood firm and scored 84, and the lower-order batsmen contributed usefully. Set to score 236 for a win, India fell 26 runs short. And just for the records, Joshi's ended up with none for 55 off 10 overs in this match.
After beating Australia and South Africa earlier, India entered the finals as favourites. Sourav Ganguly scored 117 and Tendulkar got 69 as the first wicket partnership yielded 141. Even though the middle-order disappointed, India managed 264. New Zealand lost half their side for only 132, but Chris Cairns turned the match around with a magnificent unbeaten 102. New Zealand squeaked home with two deliveries to spare.
One of India's most embarrassing one-day defeats, as Sri Lanka piled up 299, and then skittled India's much-vaunted batting line-up for 54. Sanath Jayasuriya took India's bowlers apart with a blistering 189, before Chaminda Vaas destroyed their batsmen, taking 5 for 14.
After defeating West Indies twice in the league matches, India fell to them in the finals. West Indies batted first and notched up 290. India started disastrously, losing Tendulkar for a duck and half the side for 82. Sameer Dighe led a late-order revival with a spunky 94 not out, but India fell short by 16 runs.
India were mauled again by Jayasuriya. His 102-ball 99, coupled with half-centuries by Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold, took Sri Lanka to 295. The Indian top-order collapsed yet again, losing six wickets for 100. They were never in the hunt and finished with a miserable 174.
South Africa inserted India on a bouncy Durban wicket and restricted them to 183, Dravid's 77 being the only 40-plus score. South Africa overhauled the total with a whopping 47 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.
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