India rise to the occasion against greatest rivals

OLD TRAFFORD (India won toss): India beat Pakistan by 47 runs

INDIA'S batting has caught the eye throughout a World Cup dominated largely by bowlers but it was in the field that they excelled yesterday, keeping their heads in the frenzied atmosphere at Old Trafford and, by disciplined line and length, luring Pakistan to defeat by 47 runs on a pitch that lost its early pace. For Wasim Akram's team it was a third successive setback, caused to some extent by their own raggedness in the field, and it means that they must beat Zimbabwe at the Oval on Friday to be sure of a semi-final place.

Pakistan should surely be capable of that but they will need to tighten their out-cricket and find some more runs at the top of the order if they are to better Australia a second time or avenge their defeat by South Africa. After a flying start in pursuit of 228 to win yesterday they slipped to 78 for five against the combined excellence of Srinath, Prasad and Kumble. Another brilliant piece of inventive batting by Moin Khan and a patient, if ultimately self-defeating innings by Inzamam-ul-Haq brought the game nicely to the boil before Venkatesh Prasad returned to take four more wickets in his second spell.

Deafening thunder-flashes took some of the huge and effective army of stewards and security men by surprise as the Indian victory, sealed when Wasim Akram swung Prasad in the air to square-leg, became inevitable, but fears of serious internecine strife were unfounded. The match was a wonderful advertisement for the exuberance of Asian cricket and Lancashire's fastidious security precautions, plus the good humour of the 20,500 who went to Old Trafford to enjoy themselves, ensured that the relentless cacophony did not explode into unpleasantness.

The majority of the crowd were supporting Pakistan and, since they are still likely to make a semi-final whereas India are not, they may have the last laugh. On the day, however, it was India who provided most of the memorable moments, led in the early stages by Sachin Tendulkar and bolstered later in their innings by some rough but effective hitting by Mohammad Azharuddin in his 322nd one-day international.

Excitement on the field itself briefly threatened to become overheated when Moin, having pulled to long-leg at 124 in the 35th over, reappeared as a runner for Abdur Razzaq. David Shepherd, firmly in control, had to tell both Moin and the loquacious Jadeja to calm down after warning Pakistan's wicketkeeper not to steal ground illegally when Razzaq was facing.

Soon after, Razzaq swung and missed and Inzamam's long struggle ended when he hit across the line and was leg-before. That was effectively that. Rarely can Inzamam have waited until his 85th ball to hit a four, and only then unintentionally. That he needed 96 balls for 41 illustrates how accurately India bowled, how tidily they fielded and how dead the pitch had become after suggesting plenty of life when India, wisely choosing to bat first, began their innings on a blustery morning.

They were able to do so on time only thanks to immense hard work by the Old Trafford groundstaff. Saeed Anwar, diving this way and that as Tendulkar and Ramesh got the scoreboard rattling, soon had muddy patches down his lime green kit but, remarkably, the outfield was dry on the surface after being under water 22 hours earlier.

Ramesh, substitute for the injured Ganguly, fell to an over-confident stroke, hitting across a straight ball of full length from Razzaq, who again bowled well in the middle overs in company with Azhar Mahmood. Neither has Shoaib Akhtar's pace or presence but they both land the ball time and again on the seam. It was Azhar who got the most prized wicket when Tendulkar, advancing to hit wide of mid-off in the 21st over, lofted the ball straight to Saqlain Mushtaq, standing some ten yards inside the long-off boundary. His 45 had seen him past 8,000 one-day international runs.

Still, this was a careless dismissal and it was Rahul Dravid, once again, who stayed to play the longest and most composed innings. He is so correct that he advances almost without anyone noticing, but with wristy elegance he passed fifty for the fifth time in the tournament, extending his lead as the highest scorer for any side. He was particularly severe on Saqlain, moving his feet with a speed which perhaps only Michael Slater can equal amongst contemporary batsmen. Wasim, however, had him smartly caught off a slower ball in the first over of his second spell and it was Azharuddin and the underrated Robin Singh who made effective use of the later overs.

Saeed Anwar started confidently against the new ball in reply and although Shahid Afridi sliced Srinath to gully in the third over, Pakistan's troubles did not really begin until Srinath found Ijaz Ahmed's outside edge, giving Azharuddin the first of two sharp slip catches. Salim Malik is short of runs and luck (whatever the judge may shortly say of him) and he was leg-before to give Prasad his first wicket on the way to the eighth best World Cup analysis.

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