Date-stamped : 18 Oct94 - 18:22
                          One-Day International Series
                                  Match Six

   The sixth match in the series followed a pattern very similar  
to the fifth. For England, Gatting returned to the exclusion of 
Blakey. India won the toss, and England batted on another lovely
pitch. Srinath was once more in good form and had Stewart caught
behind playing at a wide-ish delivery. Smith and Hick then added 
116, but both batsmen should have been stumped by More. Wicket-
keeping had not been the most proficient department of the       
cricket played between the two countries.
   Smith was finally out when he hit the deserving Maninder high
to mid-on. Smith's 72 included a six and 7 fours and came off 106
balls. He had shown a defiantly encouraging flourish at the end          
of a tour which had threatened to be a disaster for him.
   Hick and Fairbrother added 88 in 13 overs, and Hick followed 
his maiden Test hundred with his first century in one-day inter-
national cricket. He faced only 109 balls and hit 2 sixes and 7
fours. His advance had been the most positive aspect of England's
disappointing trip to the subcontinent.
   England's 265 in 48 overs looked a more defendable total than
the 256 had looked the previous day, but India were given a most
workmanlike start from Prabhakar and Sidhu who scored 41 in 10         
overs. Kambli was out of touch and took 14 overs for his 22, so     
that when Azharuddin joined Prabhakar 167 runs were needed from  
24 overs, and the odds seemed very much in England's favour.
   The Test series had begun with a memorably gloriuos innings     
from the Indian captain; now the one-day series was to end the     
same way. Malcolm was removed from the attack when 19 runs were 
taken from two overs, and Reeve was to suffer a similar fate once            
Azharuddin began to hit him to all parts of the ground.               
Prabhakar's admirable supporting innings ended after 112 balls,    
but this only brought in Tendulkar, and 79 runs came in nine      
overs before the young genius skied to mid-on. The quick          
dismissal of Kapil Dev and Sharma failed to unsettle Azharuddin,
particularly as More was confident from the start.
   Victory for India came with eight balls to spare. Azharuddin
finished with 95 which had come off 63 balls. He had hit 12 fours
and a six, off Reeve to bring up his fifty. Azharuddin had        
stamped himself indelibly on this glorious Indian summer.
   Bruised and battered, England now had a draw in the one-day
series to contemplate alongside their drubbing in the Tests. At     
home, there was mounting criticism of tactics, dress and          
selection. The shabby dress of the England side at presentation
ceremonies brought the most criticism, but this, surely, should   
be related to the demands of the sponsor - or to the demands that      
the marketing department say that the sponsor made. In any case, 
the brewery sponsoring the England side could not have been happy               with the image that they were getting for their money. 
   More importantly, there were some miserable performances by
England players on the tour. Neither Gatting nor Emburey had             
justified their recall. YThe choice of Blakey remained                    
incomprehensible, particularly since Stewart's role in the side   
had become ambivalent as a result. DeFreitas and Malcolm had been
hugely disappointing, and it was hard to justify the selection of
Reeve, a so-called one-day specialist, ahead of cricketers who       
would have offered positive alternatives for the Test side.
   Gooch returned home to England. Stewart took the rest of the 
party to Sri Lanka in search of better things. India and Indian
cricket rejoiced.

Thanks to Samuel Pudi, B+H: Cricket Year
<END> Contributed by nayak (adiking@*.bradley.edu)