Date-stamped : 14 Feb95 - 22:31 England "A: v India "A", ODI 2 Ahmedabad, 14 February 1995 Ramprakash adaptability defeats India - Simon Hughes AHMEDABAD is supposed to be the Manchester of India, but the cricket ground belongs more in the Arab states. Set in a scrubby, dried-up river bed, it is surrounded by mosques and has a camel- coloured pitch. There was even a minor dust storm. Nearby, women do all the chores, including knocking together primitive cricket bats by the roadside. England A lost the toss in their second one-day international against India and seemed fated to bat second every time on this tour, but at least this strip of rolled mud did not look as if it would change character even after the attentions of a pneumatic drill. Indeed the two innings were remarkably similar. Both teams lost a wicket in the first over, the middle order consolidated with fluent fifties followed by a rash of wickets. At the crucial stage, England's out-cricket was better than India's. Dominic Cork again wobbled the new ball, but Richard Johnson struggled for rhythm and was viciously pulled over long-on for six. Jason Gallian nagged away at the stumps and is as versatile in one-day cricket as he is dependable in five. Elegant partnership between Mazumdar and Dravid Min Patel was also steady, but no-one could disturb the elegant partnership between Mazumdar and Dravid. Mazumdar was at last able to show that he does actually possess some attacking shots as well as an MCC-approved defence. When he was out, Shamshed, who has neither, nor a brain, stupidly ran out Dravid and the innings went into reverse; 181 for three should have become 235, but brilliant fielding and the use of a spinner at the death, stifled the Indian tail. England immediately lost Michael Vaughan - in his first innings for a fortnight - miscueing a pull, but Mark Ramprakash is used to taking guard in the first over for England, and usually against a much more fearsome attack. Three years ago I wrote that he was technically the best batsman in England and nothing in the last six weeks has suggested otherwise. Few people could have even vaguely negotiated a raging turner in Bangalore, then a flier in Perth a few days later, never mind done it with such panache. Here he ebbed between canny placement and outright violence, manipulating the ball almost through 360 degrees with the deftest of late cuts and the finest of sweeps. Alan Wells kept him company without ever quite establishing himself and progressed mainly in singles until a booming straight drive ended up in the hands of long-off. Gallian maintained the impetus with solid driving and a scything cut, and 39 off the last 10 overs looked a stroll until the usual final scuffle. The phlegmatic Johnson jammed an attempted yorker past the bowler to seal victory with eight balls to spare and set up an interesting floodlit decider in Hyderabad tomorrow. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)