Pakistan Clinch Series Victory

An inspiring Pakistan performance helped them come back from a two game deficit to clinch a series victory against arch rivals India.

In a crunch match for India, the advantage was all Pakistan’s first up as Inzamam won the toss and elected to bat first at Delhi.

India got off to a bittersweet start as Zaheer had Salman Butt (3) dismissed early. But India’s troubles began to mount as the explosive Shahid Afridi tortured Ashish Nehra as the left arm pace bowler was going over 9 runs an over.

However, Nehra would have the last laugh as Afridi edged one to Dhoni and was dismissed for 44 off just 23 balls. India’s troubles did not stop as Shoaib Malik and Yousuf Youhana kept the scoring rate over 6 runs an over.

Shoaib Malik and Youhana both passed their respective half century milestone, before Youhana was run out for 50 due to a good fielding effort by Sachin Tendulkar.

Shoaib Malik contiuned his great innings, but when he reached 70 a good delivery by Ajit Agarkar cleaned Malik up for 72 and pegged Pakistan back to 4/191.

However, the Indian bowlers could not capitalise on their brief success due to the experience of Inzamam and Younis Khan. Inzamam (68) and Younis Khan (40) edged Pakistan past 300 before both fell to Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra respectively.

Pakistan finished up with a total of 8/303 and were clear favourites to win the match and subsequently win the series.

India began with a flurry of boundaries from explosive opener, Virender Sehwag. However the momentum was halted thanks to the dangerous Rana Naved Ul Hasan as he had Sehwag out for 21.

India’s problems went from bad to worse as the prized wicket of Tendulkar was picked up by Rao Ifthikhar Anjum. The little master departed for 9 and continued his run of inconsisent scores.

Rahul Dravid (19) was the next man to go, run out disastrously thanks to Yousuf Youhana. India now were 3/64 and the chances of victory were looking further unlikely.

Yuvraj continued his terrible run of form as he was dismissed for 13 and India’s troubles were solidified when wicket keeper/batsman Mahendra Dhoni was dismissed for 24 as India sunk to 5/93.

Mohammad Kaif (4) and Dinesh Mongia (0) provided little backbone, as the Pakistani’s through Arshad Khan (3/33) and Shahid Afridi (2/10) ripped through India’s tail to bring about a comprehensive 159 run victory and a 4-2 series win.

Brief Score Summary:

Pakistan: 8/303 (Shoaib Malik 72, Inzamam 68, Youhana 50, Nehra 3/72, Agarkar 3/58)

India: 144 All Out (Dhoni 24, Sehwag 21, Arshad Khan 3/33, Afridi 2/10)

Pakistan Won By 159 Runs

Pakistan Win ODI Series 4-2

Cricket Web Player of the Match: Shoaib Malik (PAK)

Cricket Web Player of the Series: Rana Naved Ul Hasan (PAK)