November 25, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 14, 1428

NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Salman Butt, the Pakistan opening batsman, said on Saturday his team were looking to set India a target of around 300 in the final innings of the first Test here.

Talking to reporters at the end of the third day’s play at the Ferozshah Kotla Ground, Salman, who made a stylish 67 in Pakistan’s second innings of 212 for five, said: “We still have to bowl well as India have a pretty strong batting line-up. A target of 300 would be safe enough from our point of view to put them under pressure in the fourth innings of the match,” Salman commented.

“Generally, batting is never that easy in the last innings of any match because the wear and tear on the pitch make the ball behave differently. I think that’s a key point for us to work on.”

Looking ahead, Salman said the weather could also play a significant role on Sunday. “As you must have noticed, there was less fog and more sunlight. But if there is fog tomorrow then the bowlers might extract a bit of juice from the surface. Otherwise as far as I can see, the pitch will remain low and get slower and slower,” the left-handed opener.

Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh stated India were capable of chasing any sort of total on the Kotla pitch. “To be honest, we are not looking at any score to get. We are confident of chasing any total since the pitch is playing much better now. The ball is coming nicely on the bat. I don’t think it will change that much,” the off-spinner said.

He said that it was Anil Kimble’s spell that turned the tide India’s after Salman and Yasir Hameed had Pakistan a good start.

“I thought Anil bowled well and once again brought us back into the game with the crucial wickets of Yasir and Younis [Khan]. When I got the chance to bowl fro that end, luckily I got Mohammad Yousuf with my first delivery.”

“And when take the wicket of a player of Yousuf’s class it gives you confidence to bowl in a positive frame of mind,” he remarked.