Pakistan maintained their 100 % success rate at Jamshedpur with a convincing 106-run win over India. They have now won three one-day internationals out of three at the Keenan Stadium. The manner in which Inzamam and his men played to open their account in the series, and the margin of their victory, suggested that this one-day series will in all probability go right down to the wire.

The visitors started on the right note by winning the toss for the first time in the series. Like Ganguly in the first two matches, Inzamam had absolutely no hesitation in electing to bat after calling correctly. The team batting first has won all three games in this one-day series, and while India's performances in the first two games and Pakistan's in the third were praiseworthy, administrators in India would be hoping that this trend will be reversed when the series is alive. For, if it doesn't, then several questions will be raised on their wisdom of scheduling a series in intolerable heat and humidity. That the team batting first has won all three occasions certainly gives an impression that the side batting second has found itself under unbearable strain after having fielded for three-and-a-half hours.

To compound the Indians' woes in Jamshedpur, they failed to get their overs in quickly and the Pakistani innings went into overtime. The Indians ended up getting only 20-odd minutes to recoup between the innings, instead of the usual 40 minute-long interval. Ganguly had a poor game as captain and another pathetic game as batsman. It was not the first time India under his captaincy had failed to complete the 50 overs in the stipulated time. He might well find himself in trouble, like he did in the Platinum Jubilee Game against Pakistan in November 2004.

Coincidentally, the Pakistani player who had scored a hundred in that Platinum Jubilee game crossed the three-figure mark at Jamshedpur as well. Salman Butt, who was decidedly unlucky to play just one of the three Tests despite a successful tour of Australia, held the innings together after Afridi's dismissal to top-score with 101. Shoaib Malik displayed a welcome return to form. His dismissal for 75, scored off only 79 balls at a stage when he was looking dangerous, would have upset him, but he had done his job of consolidating on the runaway start provided by Butt and Afridi. The middle-order chipped in with brisk and effective contributions, and a final total of 319 was a formidable one on a strip that had something in it for the fast bowlers. Fine, it wasn't as green or nippy as the wickets at Perth or Durban, but it wasn't a fast-bowling abattoir like the ones at Kochi and Vishakhapatnam either.

The Indian innings was reduced to a sorry state by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, a young man who displayed exemplary character on the Australia tour a few months previously, electing to stay on despite having the option of flying back after his father's unfortunate demise. His six-wicket spell pulverized the home team. His gesture at the end of the game - pulling up his shirt to kiss the Pakistani emblem - spoke volumes for his commitment to his team's cause. He lacks the box-office appeal of Shoaib Akhtar and commentators certainly don't rave about his potential as much as they do about his current contemporary Mohammed Sami, but he is endowed with a bigger heart, and if one may say so, a stronger will to fight it out.

Naved started by consuming Sehwag, who hit him straight to Afridi at point. The Pakistanis celebrated Sehwag's dismissal for a mere one like there was no tomorrow, and understandably so. That the subsequent batsmen batted rather diffidently proves two things - Sehwag's awesome talent, and regrettably, the fact that the men who follow him in the batting order do not quite trust themselves. Tendulkar continued his lean trot and succumbed to his third single-digit score of the series when he edged Sami to Younis Khan in the slips. Ganguly nicked a delivery pitched outside the off-stump to the same fielder to carry on with his horrendous run, and one wonders whether he, a players' captain, might consider dropping himself from the XI for the next game. Most probably not, as it might be interpreted as an act of cowardice in a high-profile series against the old enemy.
 

The crowd was silenced when 'local hero' Dhoni fell for an enterprising 28 when he top-edged Naved and was held comfortably by Kamran Akmal. Dravid's exit in the 17th over reduced the score to 82-6 and virtually signaled the end of the match. Irfan Pathan, who has looked a pale shadow of the man rated by knowledgeables as India's next Superstar, flayed all around him to score his first fifty in limited-overs internationals, and Zaheer Khan helped delay the inevitable with some cavalier strokes.

Naved finished with 6-27, one of the best bowling performances by a Pakistani in one-day internationals. He adhered to the basics, keeping things tight and reaping the rewards for doing so. The Indians paid the price for inept bowling and fielding earlier in the day, and disastrous batting subsequently.

The final three games should be humdingers. Although India still lead 2-1, it can be concluded that the team that keeps its cool in the battle of nerves will come through.

Yes, a little bit of luck with the toss will also help, like it has in the first three matches.