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| 16 April 2005 | Saturday | 06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
Blazing Afridi puts Pakistan ahead in ODI series
KANPUR (India), April 15: Pakistan, powered by an incredible 46-ball Shahid Afridi century, completed a five-wicket victory in the fifth One-day International here on Friday to take an unassailable 3-2 lead in the six-match series. The manner in which Pakistan has emerged after being 0-2 down has also give them a decisive psychological advantage as the teams head to Delhi for the Sunday’s final showdown.
Afridi’s brutal display of hitting made him the joint second-fastest scorer of an ODI century with his hundred coming off 45 ball. Remarkably, the owner of fastest-ever ODI century is none other than Afridi.
But statistics, in the form of nine sixes and ten fours and 102 runs, tell a bare tale. When he came out to open with Salman Butt, a potentially imposing target awaited. India had fought back spiritedly to post 249-6, having again seen their formidable top order collapse.
On a pitch where bounce was often unpredictable and usually low and with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble lying in wait, Pakistan’s hope rested on a good start. They got an explosive, and eventually, decisive one.
Having played out the first two overs with cricket etiquette, Afridi went ballistic in the third. First he picked up Lakshmipathy Balaji nonchalantly off his shins for a six over square-leg. Two balls later, he deftly repeated the shot, but for four runs. Next ball, straighter in line, was thunderously lofted over long-on where the ball-boy took a catch two yards outside the boundary line. To conclude the over, he slashed conventionally through point for four.
Twenty-three runs came off that over and when Anil Kumble replaced Balaji, he was treated with the same disregard, pulling, sweeping and lofting him for three sixes for another 23-run over. The last six, over long-on again, brought up Pakistan’s 50 and only five overs had been completed, as Rahul Dravid changed bowlers and fields with increasing futility.
Three overs later, with a traditionally straight push down the ground for four off Zaheer Khan, he brought up his own 50, off only 20 balls. An ungainly hoick over mid-wicket next ball marked his 200th six in One-day International cricket.
Implausibly, he didn’t relent; Dinesh Mongia’s left-arm spin was greeted first with a defensive prod and subsequently with a heave wide of long-on landing atop a tented enclosure, where Pakistani fans sat disbelievingly. In the same over — which went for 22 runs — he swept straight into the hands of Yuvraj Singh at short fine leg when on 85, only to discover that it was a no-ball.
Four overs later, off Harbhajan, an awkward pull straight down the ground brought up his 100 three years to the day after his last (against New Zealand) and next ball, ironically attempting a forward defensive, he was bowled. At 131-1 in 15 overs, over half the target had been blasted into.
Thereafter, normality resumed and on a wearing pitch — Afridi had rendered its nature redundant — Pakistani batsmen struggled against spin to bring about the conclusion. Shoaib Malik continued his rich form with a composed 41 and although Salman, Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan all fell, Inzamamul Haq finally completed the inevitable with a push through covers for four.
The maddening slaughter was unique, for earlier in the day India had struggled. Rana Navedul Hasan, in another impeccable display of fast-medium bowling, had decimated India’s top order. Sustaining his series form, he had Sachin Tendulkar caught behind, Virender Sehwag spectacularly bowled and Mahendra Dhoni edging to second slip in his first four overs to leave India 26-3.
After Yuvraj Singh’s dismissal in the 17th over at 59-4, Dravid as acting captain and Mohammad Kaif as the local boy had brilliantly resuscitated India, with an energetic 135-run partnership.
Dravid, in a situation scripted for him, resolutely dropped anchor as Kaif played aggressor, picking gaps for singles and piercing them for nine fours. When he was dismissed for a compact 78, pulling to mid-wicket in the 43rd over, India had assumed command at 194-5.
Dravid was run out in the last over for a defiant 86 by which time Mongia’s electric 33-run cameo had transformed India’s total beyond their own expectations. Then it had seemed enough; Afridi made it barely credible.
| Scoreboard INDIA: |
| V. Sehwag b Naved 5 |
| S.R. Tendulkar c Kamran b Naved 1 |
| M.S. Dhoni c Younis b Naved 11 |
| R. Dravid run out 86 |
| Yuvraj Singh b Razzaq 18 |
| Mohammad Kaif c sub b Razzaq 78 |
| D. Mongia not out 33 |
| Zaheer Khan not out 1 |
| EXTRAS (LB-10, W-2, NB-4) 16 |
| TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 249 |
| FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-11, 3-26, 4-59, 5-194, 6-248. |
| DID NOT BAT: Harbhajan Singh, L. Balaji, A. Kumble. |
| BOWLING: Rana Navedul Hasan 10-2-35-3 (2w); Rao Iftikhar 10-1-46-0; Abdul Razzaq 10-1-51-2 (2nb); Arshad Khan 9-1-41-0; Shahid Afridi 6-0-32-0; Shoaib Malik 5-0-34-0 (2nb). |
| Scoreboard PAKISTAN: |
| Salman Butt lbw b Kumble 21 |
| Shahid Afridi b Harbhajan 102 |
| Shoaib Malik c Zaheer b Tendulkar 41 |
| Yousuf Youhana c Kaif b Kumble 24 |
| Inzamamul Haq not out 24 |
| Younis Khan b Sehwag 24 |
| Abdul Razzaq not out 0 |
| EXTRAS (LB-5, W-6, NB-5) 16 |
| TOTAL (for five wkts, 42.1 overs) 252 |
| FALL OF WKTS: 1-131, 2-135, 3-193, 4-216, 5-248. |
| DID NOT BAT: Kamran Akmal, Rana Navedul Hasan, Rao Iftikhar, Arshad Khan. |
| BOWLING: Balaji 6-0-51-0 (1w)Zaheer Khan 7-1-35-0 (2w); Kumble 10-1-54-2 (1nb, 2w); Mongia 41-0-40-0 (3nb); Harbhajan Singh 10-0-43-1 (1w); Tendulkar 3-0-20-1 (1nb); Sehwag 2-0-4-1. |
| RESULT: Pakistan won by five wickets. |
| UMPIRES: K. Hariharan (India) and R.E. Koertzen (South Africa). |
| TV UMPIRE: I. Sivaram (India). |
| MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England). |
| MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shahid Afridi. |
| FINAL MATCH: At New Delhi on Sunday (April 17). |
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