Sharjah, April 9: Ajay Jadeja would cherish the three wickets he claimed today far more than the 16 he had taken in his 160-match One-Day career.Standing-in as skipper for the injured Mohammad Azharuddin, Jadeja's move to come in to bowl the 47th over of the England innings with the total reading 196 for six and left-handed Neil Fairbrother going strong at 57 proved to be a master stroke. In the only over he bowled in the match, he blew away the English hopes, including the well-set Fairbrother to give India a sensational 20-run victory and boost their chances of making the final of the Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah.With his second delivery, Jadeja sent back Croft who shared a 27-run stand with Fairbrother for the seventh wicket. Two deliveries later came the prized wicket of Fairbrother who was taken by substitute 'keeper Rahul Dravid. Off the last ball of the over, he saw the back of Darren Gough whom he clean bowled. And when Jadeja threw the ball to Srinath at the bowler's end to run out Ian Austin,India emerged winners.Earlier, Lancashire mates Fairbrother and Flintoff joined together in a fifth wicket stand of 72 to raise hopes of an England victory after Prasad and Srinath had sent back the openers cheaply. Hick and Thorpe made useful contributions but Prasad bowled a tidy line and length to finish with three for 28 in his 10 overs. In the end, Jadeja's dynamic leadership in Azhar's absence and some tight bowling by the medium-pacers gave India victory although some fielding and catching lapses had almost seen the match slippng away.Earlier, the pep talk given to the team members by the tour management at the hotel room seemed to have had some effect on the Indian battng. They showed marginal aggression today against the Englishmen, unlike in the game against Pakistan the previous evening.Skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, struggling to regain his batting form since his return from New Zealand almost three months ago, finally came up with a useful knock to give the side a decent total. SadagoppanRamesh contributed 60 (his first half century in four One-Dayers). Although there were no big partnerships (49 for the third-wicket between Ramesh and Azhar and 47 between Azhar and Mongia for the unbroken sixth-wicket), most of the Indian batsmen showed some positive signs while n the middle today.Azhar did not find it easy to middle his shots, but he continued to get runs by pushing and cutting through vacant spots. He reached his 50 off 67 deliveries with the help og two boundaries and later hoisted Flintoff and Austin for two huge sixes to increase the rate of scoring.Nayan Mongia, who was reported to have recovered from his illness, gave his skipper ample support in the end overs and helped himself to an unbeaten 20 off 22 balls. In between, Dravid showed some urgency in his batting but failed to come up with a decent knock while left-handed Robin Singh struck a few bold ones in his breezy 11 off 12 balls before holing out to long-on.
