India pull off amazing victory

India successfully chased 293, thanks to an unbeaten century partnership between Dravid and Kaif, after early jitters, to level the series 2-2 against Pakistan, in Lahore. Pakistan had earlier posted a competitive total on the back of a second century in the series by Inzamam.

His team leading the series 2-1, and having won an important toss, and thus batting first, Inzamam continued his good form with the bat, following up first match's 122 with another century, this time a run more, and thus helping Pakistan to 293 for 9 off their 50 overs. Pakistan went in to the match without a single change from the previous encounter's victorious eleven, whereas India made one change, that of left-arm spinner Murali Kartik replacing off-spinner Ramesh Powar.

The beginning and the finish, both, of the Pakistani innings was promising for the Indian bowlers, as rookie left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan put the Pakistanis on a tight leash, by picking up two wickets within the first 10 overs, those of Shahid Afridi and Yousuf Youhana. Yasir Hameed, on the back of two consecutive half-centuries, followed up with another promising knock of 45, before being stumped off a Kartik flighted delivery, which he mis-judged, leaving the score 89 for 3 in 21 overs.

Inzy, was involved in a century partnership with Younis Khan in the middle overs, thus not providing India an edge after the not-too-good start. Khan kept one end steady, while Inzy did most of the scoring. Khan was removed removed by Kartik for a well-made 36 off 48 balls in the 39th over, but by that time the pair had laid the foundation for a slog-overs run-fest. Kartik, was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 2 sclaps, and not going for too many runs.

Pakistan piled on 95 runs off the final 10 overs, despite losing 5 wickets in doing so. Inzamam hit with tremendous power and purpose during the period, as he reached his century. Abdul Razzaq too was on a rampage, scoring 32 off only 24 balls. Balaji removed both Inzy and Moin Khan in quick succession, both clean bowled, thus contributing to Pakistan not quite reaching 300. They lost 3 more wickets, but ended up scoring a competitive, though not ungettable, 293 for 9.

India's chase got off to a reasonable start, actually emphatic, for the first 3 overs went for over over 10 a piece. However, that was the case only due to another poor bowling performance by the new ball bowlers - Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed. They were guilty of bowling too many extras, ditto to the previous matches of the series. Despite the stray in line and length, Shoaib did trouble the Indian openers - Sachin Tendulkar and Virendar Sehwag - in patches. Both of them were able to deny a break-through, not largely due to their skill, but luck and the extras. While Sehwag survived several inside edges, Tendulkar didn't, holding out to keeper Khan off Shoaib. Laxman survvied an early scare too, a catch of a no ball, and returned the favour with some exciting shots.

Laxman and Sehwag fell in quick succession, followed soon by Ganguly, who did look better than what he has been this series, to leave India in a tough spot, at 94 for 4. But from them on, Rahul Dravid put on a rescue act to haul India out of a dangerous situation, first with Yuvraj Singh, and after his fall with Mohammed Kaif. While Yuvraj was around, Dravid was happy to just hang around, while Yuvraj did bulk of hitting.

But the partnership ended when Yuvraj mis-pulled a Mohammed Sami short ball straight to Youhana, for 35. Even at this stage, India weren't in a winning position, for over a 100 runs were still required. The only thing that was in their favour was their run rate, which they had managed to keep over 6 for all of the innings. With the rest of runs needed with only a run rate of 5 - 5.5, Mohammed Kaif joined Dravid to overcome the odds.

Pakistani bowling was not bad, but just too ordinary for the two to handle with ease. Kaif, in particular, was impressive, after disappointing thus far in the series. The two took India home, with 5 overs to spare, and their individual scores in the 70s. Inzamam was named the Man of the Match for his batting effort. India needed a win today to stay alive in the series, and so were they able to. This brings the series to a climax at the same ground (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore) on Wednesday. Both the teams have shown their strengths, and their weaknesses too. It needs to be seen which team capitalises on the other's weaknesses, and curb it's strengths, to take the 3-2 series victory.

Brief Scorecard:

Pakistan: 293 for 9 in 50 overs. (Yasir Hameed 45, Inzamam-ul-Haq 123, Zaheer Khan 43/2, Murali Kartik 48/2)

India: 294 for 5 in 45 overs. (Rahul Dravid 76*, Mohammed Kaif 71*, Mohammed Sami 51/2)

Cricket Web Player of the Match: Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Series: Levelled at 2-2.

Posted by Sudeep