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In a thrilling game that had plenty of
edge-of-the-seat action, India managed to nose
ahead rather splendidly to take a 2-1 lead in the
five match series against Pakistan.
But it was not all smooth sailing for India. That
this series would see the battle of the bats rather
than balls was a given. It followed therefore that
nine times out of ten, the captain winning the toss
would elect to field first. And nine times of out
ten, the team batting second would successfully
chase down the target. The story today was no
different.
Rahul Dravid won the toss and while Irfan Pathan
stirred up matters in the middle, dismissing Salman
Butt and Shahid Afridi in the third over of the
day, the manner in which India initially dropped
four chances and the way Shoaib Malik seemed almost
meditative amidst the chaos in the run to his third
score in the region of a century had Dravid
worried.
Indeed, the Indian captain had every reason to be,
by the time the Pakistani innings came to a close.
After the initial breakthrough, India kept
ensnaring wickets courtesy Rudra Pratap Singh.
Singh took a bit of stick while Malik and Kamran
Akmal were going strong, but quickly got into his
stride. What hurt India though was the composure of
Malik, who was undeterred by his two pervious two
attempts to break the ninety-jinx, and went on to
score a remarkably magnificent century.
Decisive late order help came from Abdul Razzaq,
whose fine sixty-four off fifty-six balls was
stroke filled and effective in pushing Pakistan to
a commanding total of 288, which at one point
seemed too distant for Pakistani minds.
Afridi being sent up the order when he has been a
colossus down the order in recent times was
baffling. The manner in which the senior players
went down showed a bit of nerves creeping into the
Pakistan strategy that destabilised their
execution. On India's part, their decision to go
for all medium-pace was a bit surprising but also,
was the direct substitution of Zaheer Khan for Ajit
Agarkar.
India had a task on their hands despite having
contained Pakistan well in parts. India were also
dealt a blow when Virender Sehwag was earlier ruled
out with a shoulder injury. But Pakistan looked all
at sea in the last match in the absence of Shoaib
Akhtar. While Akhtar's ankle injury has been widely
debated, what was not in doubt was Mohammad Asif
being a promising find for Pakistan.
Asif had India in trouble right away, as he preyed
on the indecisive footwork of Gautam Gambhir, who
was playing his first match of the series. Playing
the field is fine but when chasing a target that
demands a certain steadfastness, Pathan would have
perhaps been the ideal man with the long handle in
a position other than number three.
Asif surprised Pathan with a bouncer which he
inadvertently thumbed on its way to the
wicketkeeper, and the move fell flat. But Tendulkar
and Dravid made a quick assessment and played the
ball on merit. Even as the veteran duo laid anchor,
the task seemed arduous but not impossible. The
boat rocked when Dravid was tragically run out, the
match seemed evenly poised. That was until Razzaq
picked up Tendulkar for ninety-five and Kaif fell
to Umar Gul.
At five for 190 in the thirty-fifth over, the match
could have completely slipped out of India's grasp
in days of yore. But the century stand between
Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh stood India in good
stead. What came thereafter made that gigantic
effort a thing of the past! While Yuvraj continued
his good vein of form in a sublime vein for
seventy-nine, Mahendra Singh Dhoni tagged the game
decisively in India's favour with a spellbinding
seventy-two off forty-six balls. What was baffling
on Pakistan's part was that Rana Naved-ul Hassan
kept feeding Dhoni with short-pitched deliveries
and the explosive wicketkeeper made a sumptuous
meal of it.
Tendulkar would have been the automatic choice for
'the man of the match' award a few years ago. But
Dhoni's superlative knock that helped India take
the lead for the first time in the series enabled
him to walk away with the booty.
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