Heady Stuff!

Some bowlers intimidate batsmen but it is a rare genius who intimidatesbowlers as Sachin Tendulkar did in the high-voltage match against Pakistan whenhis competitive juices were flowing.

It was heady stuff! And India will now take much more than just the pointsfrom their impressive six-wicket win against their traditional rivals through tothe business end of this World Cup.

India booked its passage through to the Super Six stage and the win continuedthe revival of the team since the demoralising defeat by the Australians at thestart of the tournament.

In this form Ganguly and his team are capable of beating anyone but they mustbelieve in themselves and be prepared to play with the freedom they have shownin recent matches.

Pakistan have yet to win a World Cup match against India and if they are todo so they need to develop some subtlety to go with the sledge-hammer approach.Full frontal assault has not done the trick for them so far.

Thankfully it was a day game because Pakistan won the toss and decided to baton an excellent batting wicket. Nehra for one found conditions very differentfrom those experienced at Kingsmead the other evening.

Saeed Anwar continued with his love affair of Indian bowling in one-day cricketwith an innings that started tentatively but grew into the more assured andelegant version of Anwar that we have come to know and appreciate.

When he was finally bowled in the 41st over by a near perfect Nehra yorker,Anwar had anchored the Pakistan innings and had set the solid foundation fortheir total of 273 for seven.

Rashid Latif did a fine job in the last ten overs to ensure a competitivetotal while Wasim Akram played some lusty shots at the end to complete afrustrating day for Nehra.

The total of 273 would have been excellent had it been a night game but asconditions were not going to change in the afternoon Pakistan will have feltuneasy about the Indian top order, especially Tendulkar.

The other thing that has to be noted is that grounds here in South Africa aregenerally on the small side and Centurion is one of the smaller grounds of theWorld Cup rotation. A score of 270 in 50 overs here would only be seen as par.

For me, the prospect of the Pakistan pace attack challenging the immenseskills of Tendulkar and his look alike Virender Sehwag was an excitingproposition.

Early wickets were always going to be important for Pakistan to make thescore resemble 300, so Waqar Younis decided to go with his big guns ShoaibAkhtar and Wasim Akram.

For India to win it would probably take someone to make 100 so Tendulkarwould have loomed large in the sights of the Pakistani pace trio.

The scene was set for a classic confrontation and whoever won the first roundwas going to take a huge step toward winning the game and getting through to thenext stage in good shape. The loser may well be consigned to an early exit.

The showdown got away to an explosive start. Neither Akram nor Shoaib had achance to settle in before Tendulkar struck the first psychological blows bydespatching both bowlers to various parts of the ground.

Tendulkar heaved a big six over third man in Shoaib's first over and theyoung fast bowler looked unnerved. Everybody's pace had quickened and theadrenalin was racing.

Wasim brought some sanity to the proceedings in his second over while Waqarreplaced Shoaib after just one over.

Sehwag proceeded to unsettle him by hitting his first delivery for an evenbigger six over third man.

The pace and bounce was suiting the aggression of the two Indian openers.Fire was being used to fight fire. The question was; which side was going tobreak first? Ten runs per over was just the start India wanted and Pakistan werepsychologically on the back foot.

Wasim Akram has been as good with his craft as Tendulkar is with his and theold warhorse turned back the clock as he steamed in to deliver some finedeliveries. But conditions were in favour of the batting side and luck seemed tobe running their way.

Kaif was promoted ahead of Mongia in the Indian batting order and he set aboutdoing what his captain would have wanted done. He did not get too manyopportunities himself, but he got to be a close spectator in the ongoingTendulkar master-class.

Pakistan proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot as they bowled no bowls asthe tide of the contest began to flow India's way. Their pace was workingagainst Pakistan.

Tendulkar eased back the throttle as Kaif joined in the merriment with someclassy shots of his own.

The body language suggested Pakistan was running out of ideas as well asbelief. They had thrown their best punches but they were reeling from the bodyblows India had got in early.

Shoaib soon lost the plot. Pace was certainly not working for him and heseemed devoid of a back-up plan. He began flailing like a drowning man in araging torrent.

Meanwhile, Kaif had dragged himself out of his ringside seat to join in thecommand performance. He played with a style and aplomb which suggests he is alsoa player of rare skill. We should see more of him in the future.

At the first drinks break India was travelling at nearly nine runs per overand only a disaster would stop them from taking the honours.

Afridi and Razzaq were the first attempts at subtlety and while theysucceeded in slowing the march to victory it was as much a decision by Tendulkarthat the killer punch had been landed and India only needed to remain standingto win the bout.

Once Tendulkar and Kaif departed it was left to Dravid and Yuvraj Singh tosee India home in what had been another in the titanic contests between thesetwo proud nations.

Good players though make their own luck, and Tendulkar pierced the field on bothsides of the wicket with precision drives, pulls and cuts.

Waqar responded to being hit behind square on the leg side from middle stumpto bowling more to the off side only to see balls race through the covers.Errors of length were hurting the Pakistan pace bowlers as they strived for evenmore pace.

Each time they erred, Tendulkar punished them.

Sehwag finally fell to some clever bowling and good field placing as hechipped Waqar to extra cover. He may have also been sucked into the maelstrom ofadrenalin sparked by Tendulkar's brilliance.

Ganguly strode to the crease. He needed to settle things with a cool head andfeed the strike to the rampant Tendulkar. Ganguly didn't even have time to thinkabout it as Rudi Coetzer adjudged him LBW to the first ball he faced.

The bowling skipper had won the battle of the captains and had reclaimed someground for the beleaguered Pakistan bowlers. The entertainment level wasexceedingly high.

Abdur Razzaq became the villain of the piece for Pakistan as he misjudged acatch from Tendulkar coming from a crude drive off the bowling of Wasim whenTendulkar was on 32.

I bet I wasn't the only one who immediately thought of Herschelle Gibbs'muffed chance from Steve Waugh in the semi-final of the 1999 World Cup.

PTI