A Walk In The Park

In a pride-restoring win, India thumped Pakistan by seven wickets today to level the one-day series and register their first win of the current tour.

India's bowlers, mauled by the host side batsmen, set the stage for the victory by restricting Pakistan to 265, a totalthe Indian batsmen easily overhauled with solid contributions from Yuvraj Singh (82 not out), Virender Sehwag (67) and Rahul Dravid (56).

India outplayed Pakistan thoroughly to record their first triumph on the tour in 38 days. Set to score 266 for a win, the tourists rode on splendid top-order batting display to canter to a win and silence the capacity crowd which saw the drift of the game quite early and started leaving.

It was sweet revenge for the tourists who had been beaten 1-0 in the three-Test series held prior to the five-match one-day rubber and also enabled India to draw level 1-1 with three matches to go.

A rollicking century stand (105) for the first wicket between the master and pupil pair of Sachin Tendulkar (42 in 43 balls with 8 fours) andSehwag (67 in 60 balls with ten fours and a six) put India firmly on the road to their first win since their arrival here on January 5.

After the duo's departure in the space of 12 balls and 18 runs, skipper Dravid andthe in-form Yuvraj ensured that the brilliant work of the openers did not go waste.

The pair put on 118 runs for the third wicket in 128 balls to guide the hosts to their first victory over their arch rivals after five straight losses, going back to the last series held in India in 2005. The last win had come in Vishakapatnam in April.

Dravid hit five fours in his 61-ball stay before departing when his team needed only 25 more runs. He was caught and bowled by Shoaib Malik in the 39th over, the ball stopping a bit on the batsman.

Yuvraj, who made a century in the Karachi Test for a lost cause, struck 8 fours and two on-driven sixes off Shoaib Malik while facing 89 balls to remain unconquered in the end.

The superb victory not only arrested the home team's momentum gained after the Karachi Test victory but also provided the tourists their ninth win in their last 12 one-day internationals including the 6-1 sweep over Sri Lanka and the 2-2 series draw against South Africa.

Earlier, Pakistan rallied their way from a difficult 68 for four to 265 all out in 49.2 overs riding on one down batsman Malik's 110-ball 95 (13 fours), his second successive 90-plus score in the series, and vice captain Younis Khan's measured knock of 81 (98 balls, 9 fours).

It looked like a fighting total by Pakistan, who opted to bat first after winning the toss, till Sehwag and Tendulkar got involved in their rollicking partnership that put India firmly on the path of victory which was later consolidated by the third wicket three-figure stand between Dravid andYuvraj.

Sehwag was at his punishing best, though the six he hit with his patented slash over third man off Rana Naved-ul Hasan in the fifth over of the innings saw him clutch his left shoulder with pain.

Physio John Gloster came out and treated the shoulder, but the batsman was seen shuffling the hurt area often after the six.Sehwag, who carted the Pakistan new ball bowler for 20 runs in that over, with Rana bowling two no-balls to make it 22 from it, gave the innings the start it needed to set a scorching scoring rate. He struck three fours too in it.

After the fifth over, the Indian score jumped to 32. Tendulkar, coming into the match on the back of a glorious 100 he made in Peshawar, once again was content to give the strike to his partner like he had done so wisely in the firstODI.

Rana was packed off after that over and the Indian fifty came up in the 8th over with Sehwag on 36 and Tendulkar on 11.The Delhi batsman then raced to his 50 in only 46 balls with eight fours and a six in it. It was his 20th half century and fourth against thearch-rivals in 19 matches.

Umar Gul, who beat Sehwag off two successive balls outside his off stump, was then hit for three fours in an over by Tendulkar in the 13th over and the Indian run-rate jumped from around 6.4 to plus 7 by the 15th. Gul gave away 29 in his first four-over spell.

Mohammed Asif, India's tormentor in the third Test at Karachi and in the first ODI at Peshawar, was again impressive but also gave away 28 runs in his first sixovers.

Pakistan tasted their first success when Tendulkar tried to chase a wide ball from Abdul Razzaq only to edge it to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.

Sehwag also followed him to the pavilion soon 12 balls later when he was run out after being beaten by a throw from the deep from Gul at deep fine leg.

The two setbacks notwithstanding, Dravid and Yuvraj batted sensibly to see India well on way to a series-squaring victory, scoring their 66th and 21st half centuries respectively in the process.

The Pakistan skipper tried to unsettle the third wicket duo with constant bowling changes, but the ploy failed to work.

Earlier, India let Pakistan off the hook, allowing the hosts to fight back from a precarious position. After reducing Pakistan to 68 for four, the Indian bowling attack appeared to run out of steam before bowling out the home side in 49.2 overs at the jam-packed Pindi Stadium.

Pakistan's fightback was fashioned by Malik, who top scored with 95, and Younis who made 81.

Pakistan were off to a shaky start, losing opener Salman Butt for a duck in the first over followed by the dismissals ofAkmal, Mohammed Yousuf and skipper Inzamam.

Malik and crisis man Younis then salvaged the innings with a fifth wicket stand of 102 runs in 125 balls.

Malik's 110-ball knock and Younis' 81 in 98 balls with nine fours not only took the fight to the opposition camp but also ensured a good score in the end.

The 23-year-old Malik missed a century for the second match in running, being run out when in sight of his fifth hundred in limited over internationals.

Sreesanth's throw was quick and accurate as Malik tried to steal a second run from a Younis stroke to deep point. He had made 90 in the first match at Peshawar.

Pakistan, 114 for four after 25 overs, increased the tempo later, adding 59 runs in the last ten overs to finally set India an asking rate of5.32 to win the clash.

Younis held the lower order together and added useful runs for the sixth and seventh wickets beforeoffering a tame catch off Ajit Agarkar to depart in the 47th over.

India, however, came back strongly towards the end to grab all the Pakistan wickets but the final total was far beyond what they would have expected.

The absence of a regular fifth bowler was once again felt by the Indians who chose to drop left arm spinner Murali Kartik and include an extra batsman in Suresh Raina.

PTI