It was truly a surreal day's cricket. Yuvraj Singh, the best fielder in the Indian team, missed an easy catch and Ashish Nehra, the worst, brought about two run-outs in the dramatic final moments of a cliffhanger. With Pakistan needing a mere three from the final over, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly summoned Sachin Tendulkar to bowl, a move that reminded the sub-continent of the little champion's match-winning final over in the Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa way back in 1993. Then, with the Pakistani skipper having reduced the target to one with three balls left, Tendulkar bowled two dot balls and much to the chagrin of Ganguly and others, seemed reluctant to allow the fielders to be brought in to prevent the all-important single. It transpired that he was under the impression that Pakistan needed two to win. A hurried confabulation later, Ganguly crowded the two batsmen, only for Inzamam-ul-Haq to end the game with a searing square-drive that levelled the series.

This was by a wide margin, the best game of this one-day series till date, and one that has helped maintain the tradition of epic encounters between cricket's fiercest rivals. The mind boggles at the thought of what is in store at Kanpur on 15th April and Delhi on the 17th, with the series set to go right down to the wire.

After a delayed start that reduced the game to a 48-overs-a-side affair, India did everything right, starting with the toss. They batted first and Sachin Tendulkar returned to form in style with a remarkable 123. His was a magnificent innings, embellished with some stunning strokes including fantabulous reverse-sweeps. Although Sehwag fell early, Dhoni lived up to his reputation as a great discovery. Ganguly had another poor outing, but it has to be said that he more than compensated with his captaincy in those tense final moments of the game. A blitzkrieg by Yuvraj Singh at the end of the Indian innings meant that Pakistan had to chase 315.

But for some clueless cricket by the middle-order batsmen in the final stages, Pakistan's batting performance was worth putting in a showcase and preserving for posterity. If any student of the game wishes to learn how to plan and pace a chase in a one-day international, he has to do just one simple thing - watch the recording of the Pakistani innings.

With the asking rate hovering around the 6.5 mark, a belligerent start was a necessity. Shahid Afridi provided exactly that. By the time he holed out to Tendulkar off Balaji's bowling, he had done his job. His partner Salman Butt, who had played second fiddle with aplomb as long as Afridi was at the crease, then took charge with some flowing strokes. The Indians regained their poise when he fell to the left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, but Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik came together in an absolutely delightful stand that took the game away from the home team. The extraordinary feature of their partnership was that they just tapped and placed the ball around for singles and the odd two, and maintained the asking rate. A boundary was more the exception than the rule. It was exhilarating batting.

After Razzaq fell to a Tendulkar full-toss that he could have hit anywhere in the ground but chose to hit it straight down Kartik's throat at deep mid-wicket (yes, another surreal happening), in came Inzamam, who must surely love such situations. So many times has he steered his team to victory from choppy waters that it was merely a question of who would stay with him till the end. His teammates did themselves no credit with some over-ambitious batting and running in the end overs, when all that was needed was going at a run-a-ball, but as long as he was in there, the Pakistanis had no reason to worry. Ganguly marshalled his fielders well in the closing stages and induced some pressure in the Pakistani ranks, but he and his team had already missed a trick in the middle overs by allowing too many easy singles and twos. Even Inzamam ran brilliantly (very, very surreal indeed). He did his objective of running like a hare no harm by not wearing the cumbersome but essential thigh-pad!

It was a professional display by Pakistan. Inzamam, his boys and coach Bob Woolmer deserve all the plaudits that will be bestowed on them for planning, controlling and executing the chase so perfectly. It was the first time in Pakistan's one-day history that they successfully chased over 300 to win. They made it a memorable first.

Javed Miandad, former coach of the Pakistani team, has made several caustic comments about the side and his successor Woolmer in the recent past. However, even he will salute the team for this win. A master at marshalling run-chases like this one in his heyday, he would have been proud of this one.