The Hindu : Sport : India poised to square series

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 20, 2006

Sport

Sport

India poised to square series

ABU DHABI: Pakistan was 192 for seven in 40 overs in the second ODI of the DLF Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday. Skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq (65) and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (27) were at the crease.

The Pakistan batsmen had their task cut out as they began the chase under lights. The pursuit of 270 was always going to be tough on a sluggish pitch.

It required a solid start but Irfan Pathan had other ideas. The left-arm paceman had been wayward in the opening game, but landed the ball in the right areas on Wednesday.

Pathan's 100th wicket

Pathan won a marginal leg-before decision against the left-handed Imran Farhat — his 100th ODI victim — and then consumed Shahid Afridi with a peach of a delivery that swung back into the right-hander. Promoted in the order to accelerate the run-rate, Afridi walked back without troubling the scorers.

Younis Khan (5) disappointed, nibbling at an outswinger from Ajit Agarkar to be caught behind. Agarkar sent down some testing yorkers and S. Sreesanth bowled with verve, often taking the ball away.

Surviving India's early blitz was opener Shoaib Malik, who stroked the ball fluently through the off-side. Skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq gained in confidence after a tentative start, twice pulling Sreesanth for boundaries.

The fourth-wicket partnership was blossoming when Malik (45 off 70 balls) was held brilliantly by a diving Yuvraj Singh at square-leg off Ramesh Powar who once again bowled superbly.

The off-spinner used the crease well, flighted and spun the ball, and mixed his pace. With Harbhajan Singh too coming up with an improved performance, the Pakistanis were pegged back.

Lucky escape

Inzamam was lucky when Harbhajan misjudged the flight of the ball at deep square-leg after the Pakistan captain top-edged a sweep off Powar. But the off-spinner struck in the same over when Mohammad Yousuf clipped a ball to a leaping Suresh Raina at mid-wicket.

There was more success for India when Kamran Akmal, attempting to work the ball on the on-side, only succeeded in offering a catch to Rahul Dravid on the off-side. And soon the big-hitting Abdul Razzaq was held in the deep off Powar, the variation in the bowler's trajectory doing the batsman in. Pakistan was staring down the barrel at 148 for seven, the asking rate crossing eight runs an over.

Dravid misses century

Earlier, Rahul Dravid missed his century by eight runs, as India posted a challenging 269 for five. The Indian skipper looked set to score his 12th ODI hundred when he inside-edged seamer Mohammad Asif's delivery on to his stumps, but not before boosting his team's chances of squaring the series.

India made a strong start after winning the toss, as Dravid and hard-hitting Virender Sehwag (73) put on 138 for the opening wicket. The Indian skipper then added 90 for the second with the free-stroking Mahendra Singh Dhoni (59).

Openers Dravid and Sehwag took time to adjust to the conditions, failing to score in the opening three overs. But runs came thick and fast once they settled down and they spared neither the seamers nor the spinners.

Sehwag, who failed to score a half-century in the seven-match ODI series against England at home, returned to form with a brisk 83-ball knock which contained one six and 10 fours.

Sehwag, who replaced Robin Uthappa at the top of the order, began badly and nearly chopped an Asif delivery on to his stumps.

He soon grew in confidence and drove Asif twice to the boundary. The swashbuckling opener then played a delicate late cut off Rao Iftikhar Anjum to show his class and then drove the same bowler for his second successive four.The Indian batsmen continued to flourish even after Sehwag's dismissal with Dravid and Dhoni scoring at ease. With India having plenty of wickets in hand for the slog overs, Yuvraj came up with an attractive cameo, smashing a 10-ball 24 with one six and three fours — all in one over off Asif. — Agencies

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