LAHORE, March 21: Brilliant batting by Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif guided India to a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth One-day International at the Qadhafi Stadium on Sunday
to square the five-match series at 2-2.
In what has proved to be a tense and hard-fought series between these great rivals, India's victory sets up a fitting finale at the same venue on Wednesday. The win, completed in the 45th over, saw India overtake Pakistan's 293 for nine before a jampacked stadium.
Pakistan skipper Inzamamul Haq's century, his 10th in One-day Internationals, was overshadowed by the splendid comeback by tourists, who recovered from a gloomy 94 for four in the 13th over, courtesy of Dravid (76 not out) and Kaif's unbeaten 71.
Earlier, Dravid featured in a 68-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh (36) and then put on 132 with Kaif in an unbroken sixth wicket stand.
It was Dravid's 13th half century as he struck nine fours in a 92-ball innings while Kaif faced 77 balls stroking eight boundaries. Pakistan, after doing a good job early on, toiled in vain to separate the sixth wicket pair who made it look all very easy.
As they began their chase, India were dealt the first blow by Shoaib Akhtar who removed Sachin Tendulkar, the master batsman providing an inside edge to wicket-keeper Moin Khan after scoring only seven runs.
V.V.S. Laxman was beginning to look dangerous and hit Shabbir Ahmed for three successive boundaries in his fourth over in which the tall paceman conceded 16 runs.
But before that he was given a life when Shabbir had him caught by Inzamam off a no-ball with the batsman yet to get off the mark. It was then left to Shoaib who dismissed him with another fiery delivery in the ninth over after he had collected 20 runs for his second wicket of the match.
And when Younis Khan took V. Sehwag in the slips from a Mohammad Sami delivery, the responsibility of building the innings lay on the trusted shoulders of skipper Saurav Ganguly and Dravid.
But the captain's departure in the 13th over with India 94 for four spelt trouble for the tourists. Abdul Razzaq took Ganguly's wicket, caught by Moin for 21. After Yuvraj too fell for 36, splendidly taken by Yousuf Youhana off Sami, it was left to Dravid and Kaif to do the job.
The Pakistani bowlers were again unable to curb their tendency of giving away excessive extras and conceding 37 this time. In four games now they have gifted 145 such runs. Shoaib erred the most by bowling 14 wides on Sunday.
Earlier, Inzamam played a cracking captain's innings to spur Pakistan to a decent total. He blasted nine boundaries and four sixes in a 121-ball stay at the crease to lift Pakistan after the fall of two early wickets.
Inzamam was involved in two significant partnerships and first lent stability to the innings by sharing a 105-run fourth wicket stand with Younis Khan off 109 balls. Later, along with Abdul Razzaq, he put on a quickfire 70 from just 46 deliveries for the fifth wicket. But Inzamam became the first of paceman L. Balaji's two victims in the 47th over who uprooted his off stump with a sharp delivery. However, by then Pakistan had gone well past the 250 mark.
Younis who collected 36 runs was caught in the deep by Irfan Pathan off Murali Kartik who replaced off-spinner Ramesh Powar in the side while Razzaq was sent back by Tendulkar, caught by Kaif in the penultimate over. He scored 32 off only 24 balls smashing two fours and a six.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan made a poor start with opener Shahid Afridi and Youhana back in the confines of the dressing room by the ninth over, paceman Irfan Pathan inflicting the damage in his first spell.
Afridi, who had smashed 80 in the second match at Rawalpindi was caught in the point by Yuvraj Singh while Youhana went, trapped in front with Pakistan having posted only 39 runs.
But then Inzamam along with Yasir Hameed staged a brief recovery with a 50-run partnership for the third wicket before India were able to achieve another breakthrough in the 21st over.
Just when he looked on course to score his 10th half century, Yasir aimed to hit Kartik out of the ground but was deceived and wicketkeeper Dravid did the rest with ease.
However, Inzamam continued to bat in his trademark style to get his half century from 63 balls striking four boundaries. The Indian pacers Pathan, Balaji and Zaheer Khan shared six wickets with Kartik picking up two while Tendulkar chipped in with the important wicket of Razzaq.
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN:
Yasir Hameed st Dravid b Kartik 45
Shahid Afridi c Yuvraj b Pathan 3
Yousuf Youhana lbw b Pathan 9
Inzamamul Haq b Balaji 123
Younis Khan c Pathan b Kartik 36
Abdul Razzaq c Kaif b Tendulkar 32
Moin Khan b Balaji 0
Shoaib Malik c Kaif b Zaheer 13
Shoaib Akhtar b Zaheer 2
Mohammad Sami not out 0
Shabbir Ahmed not out 0
EXTRAS (B-10, LB-9, W-6, NB-5) 30
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 293
FALL OF WKTS: 1-8, 2-39, 3-89, 4-194, 5-264, 6-264, 7-283, 8-290, 9-292.
