MOHALI, India (AFP) — Younis Khan hit a blazing century as Pakistan scripted an unlikely four-wicket win against India in the second one-day international here on Thursday.
Younis anchored the Pakistani innings with a 117-run knock off 110 balls to help his side surpass India's total of 321-9 and register their most successful run chase ever in one-day internationals.
The thrilling win helped the visitors draw level 1-1 in the five-match series after India won the opener in Guwahati by five wickets.
Man-of-the-match Younis, dropped on 72, shared a crucial 102-run stand for the fifth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq (49) before being dismissed in the 46th over.
He slammed nine fours and two sixes to overshadow the effort of Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a masterly 99 studded with 14 fours and a six to prop up the Indian innings.
A Pakistan victory looked in doubt after the dismissal of Younis but Shahid Afridi hit a quickfire 29 off 14 balls to seal the fate of the hosts.
"It was a real team effort. Younis, Misbah and Afridi batted really well under pressure," Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik said.
"We have gained a lot of encouragement from the win and our morale will be high as we go into the next match. The wicket was excellent, it was good for the batsmen and also had something for the bowlers."
Pakistan were off to a shaky start, losing opener Kamran Akmal to Rudra Pratap Singh in the sixth over and his in-form partner Salman Butt to Irfan Pathan.
Mohammad Yousuf (12) was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Harbhajan Singh before Younis steadied the innings with his third one-day century.
"We could have bowled a bit better. We got a start with the ball but failed to capitalise on it," Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
Earlier, Tendulkar, 34, fell just one run short of his century.
It was also Tendulkar's fifth dismissal in the nervous 90s this season following scores of 99, 93, 99 and 94 on the tour of Ireland and England earlier this year.
Tendulkar, playing in his record 404th one-dayer, shared a 173-run stand with Gautam Gambhir, who hit seven fours in his 57-ball knock.
Both Tendulkar and Gambhir were dismissed by pacer Umar Gul (2-56) in the space of two overs to peg back the Indian innings after Dhoni had elected to bat on a sporting track.
Tendulkar, in the news recently for refusing India's Test captaincy, was caught behind the wicket by Akmal diving to his right.
The wayward Pakistani bowlers gave away a whopping 41 extras, including 31 wides. Shoaib Akhtar picked up 3-42 but mostly bowled from a shortened run-up and was sloppy in the field, raising doubts about his fitness.
Pakistan's previous best one-day run chase was 319-7, also against India, in Ahmedabad in 2005.
Following the match, both sides were fined for slow over-rates, the International Cricket Council said.
ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama imposed the fines after the teams were ruled to be one over short of their targets when time allowances were taken into consideration.
Both captains were fined 10 percent of their match fees while the players each received five per cent fines.
Scoreboard:
India
Fall of wkts 1-6, 2-179, 3-186, 4-239, 5-259, 6-260, 7-266, 8-278, 9-311
Overs: 50
Pakistan:
Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Akmal), 2-81 (Butt), 3-105 (Yousuf), 4-174 (Malik), 5-276 (Younis), 6-283 (Misbah)
Overs: 49.5
Pakistan won by four wickets
Toss: India
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Suresh Shastri (IND)
TV umpire: Amish Saheba (IND)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)
Third one-dayer: At Kanpur (Sunday)
Source : afp.google.com
Showing posts with label India-Pakistan Series 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India-Pakistan Series 2007. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Tendulkar, Akhtar set to spice up India-Pakistan series
NEW DELHI (AFP) — If controversial Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar hopes to redeem his image on the current Indian tour, he will first have to conquer Sachin Tendulkar.
Chucking allegations, a drug-ban, indiscipline and injuries have dogged the mercurial paceman ever since his international debut in 1997. But when he is battle-ready, he can make life miserable for batsmen.
Akhtar's duels with Tendulkar have caught the fancy of fans on both sides of the border ever since his first-ball dismissal of the master batsman in a Test match in Kolkata in 1999.
Their duel was the talking point during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Tendulkar won that battle with a bold 98 off 75 balls to set up his team's victory at Centurion.
Tendulkar later described the innings as one of the highlights of his record-breaking one-day career.
But Akhtar has not always been a punchbag for the Indians.
His 34 wickets in 23 one-dayers against the arch-rivals means he remains a constant threat. He has also grabbed 19 wickets in seven Tests against India.
Tendulkar has often dominated the Pakistani attack with rich strokeplay, having scored 2,122 runs in 61 one-dayers with five centuries and 918 runs in 16 Tests with two hundreds.
Pakistan will play five one-dayers on the current tour, with the first starting in Guwahati on Monday. The teams will then clash in a three-Test series beginning on November 22.
Akhtar is known as much for his mood swings as for hurling down thunderbolts and they have often proved his undoing in a career spanning nearly a decade.
He recently served a 13-match ban, primarily for striking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat ahead of the inaugural Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September.
Akhtar has been placed on probation for two years, meaning he could be suspended for life if he again breaches the players' code of conduct.
He returned to international cricket in the decisive fifth and final one-dayer against South Africa at home last month, only to prove he could be a batsmen's nightmare when on song.
His four-wicket burst nearly set up his team's win before the batsmen messed it up chasing a 234-run target at Lahore. Pakistan lost the series 3-2, but Akhtar won many a heart on his comeback.
He is now on a mission.
"I promise I will do my best and give my full effort on the tour of India to help my team win both the one-day and Test series," said Akhtar.
"I have missed a lot of cricket due to injuries and other reasons but now I want to focus on my game. This may be my last tour so I must do something special for the fans in India so that they remember me in a good way."
He needs to keep Tendulkar silent first if he wants to make this tour a memorable one for him.
India have found talented youngsters in Robin Uthappa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, but still depend on Tendulkar for setting or successfully chasing a stiff target.
Tendulkar may not be as explosive a batsman as he was a decade ago, but he still has the shots to test any attack. He also has an uncanny knack of finding gaps where none appears to exist.
The Indian is the world's leading scorer in one-dayers with 15,703 runs in 402 matches and a record 41 centuries.
It promises to be an engrossing contest when he faces Akhtar, one of the fastest pacemen in the world.
Source : afp.google.com
Chucking allegations, a drug-ban, indiscipline and injuries have dogged the mercurial paceman ever since his international debut in 1997. But when he is battle-ready, he can make life miserable for batsmen.
Akhtar's duels with Tendulkar have caught the fancy of fans on both sides of the border ever since his first-ball dismissal of the master batsman in a Test match in Kolkata in 1999.
Their duel was the talking point during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Tendulkar won that battle with a bold 98 off 75 balls to set up his team's victory at Centurion.
Tendulkar later described the innings as one of the highlights of his record-breaking one-day career.
But Akhtar has not always been a punchbag for the Indians.
His 34 wickets in 23 one-dayers against the arch-rivals means he remains a constant threat. He has also grabbed 19 wickets in seven Tests against India.
Tendulkar has often dominated the Pakistani attack with rich strokeplay, having scored 2,122 runs in 61 one-dayers with five centuries and 918 runs in 16 Tests with two hundreds.
Pakistan will play five one-dayers on the current tour, with the first starting in Guwahati on Monday. The teams will then clash in a three-Test series beginning on November 22.
Akhtar is known as much for his mood swings as for hurling down thunderbolts and they have often proved his undoing in a career spanning nearly a decade.
He recently served a 13-match ban, primarily for striking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat ahead of the inaugural Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September.
Akhtar has been placed on probation for two years, meaning he could be suspended for life if he again breaches the players' code of conduct.
He returned to international cricket in the decisive fifth and final one-dayer against South Africa at home last month, only to prove he could be a batsmen's nightmare when on song.
His four-wicket burst nearly set up his team's win before the batsmen messed it up chasing a 234-run target at Lahore. Pakistan lost the series 3-2, but Akhtar won many a heart on his comeback.
He is now on a mission.
"I promise I will do my best and give my full effort on the tour of India to help my team win both the one-day and Test series," said Akhtar.
"I have missed a lot of cricket due to injuries and other reasons but now I want to focus on my game. This may be my last tour so I must do something special for the fans in India so that they remember me in a good way."
He needs to keep Tendulkar silent first if he wants to make this tour a memorable one for him.
India have found talented youngsters in Robin Uthappa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, but still depend on Tendulkar for setting or successfully chasing a stiff target.
Tendulkar may not be as explosive a batsman as he was a decade ago, but he still has the shots to test any attack. He also has an uncanny knack of finding gaps where none appears to exist.
The Indian is the world's leading scorer in one-dayers with 15,703 runs in 402 matches and a record 41 centuries.
It promises to be an engrossing contest when he faces Akhtar, one of the fastest pacemen in the world.
Source : afp.google.com
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