KARACHI, July 3: Younis Khan’s magnificent century gave Pakistan a lifeline in the ninth Asia Cup after they cantered to a crushing eight-wicket victory over arch-rivals India in the crucial Super Four clash at the National Stadium here on Wednesday night (also partly reported in Thursday’s edition).

Younis drove, swept, cut and reverse-swept to an unblemished 123, as Pakistan comfortably chased a daunting target of 309 for the loss of just two wickets with 27 deliveries to spare on a benign pitch that proved to be a nightmare for the bowlers.

The much-needed win left Pakistan still in the hunt for a spot in Sunday’s final against Sri Lanka, a prospect that now depends on the defending champions defeating India in the day-night fixture on Thursday. In that eventuality Pakistan only would have to beat low-rated Bangladesh in the last Super Four tie on Friday to qualify with the net run-rate not coming into the equation at all.

Stand-in skipper Misbah-ul-Haq celebrated his first match in charge with an equally important contribution when he arrived at the fall of Mohammad Yousuf’s wicket at the start of the 26th over.

Misbah, as usual displaying complete calmness, saw Pakistan home with an unbeaten 70 off 62 balls – a knock that featured seven boundaries and slog-swept six off Virender Sehwag – and matched Younis’s stroke for stroke in the unbeaten partnership of 144, which took only 123 balls.

Openers Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed also played key roles at start of the run chase while putting on 65 in eight overs. Salman was run out for a 31-ball 36 (six fours) after being sent back by his partner.

Nasir, in his first game against a major opposition, retired hurt with cramps after adding 56 with Younis. The young left-hander’s 53 off 43 balls included nine boundaries.

Yousuf was bowled behind his legs as he tried to sweep leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 21 before Younis and Misbah sealed India’s fate with their decisive partnership.

The star of the night – was without a trace of doubt – was Younis, who cut Praveen Kumar to the point boundary to reach the magical figure off 99 deliveries in the 40th over. Ironically, it was the 30-year-old right-hander’s first three-figure innings on home soil. In the process, he also reached 5,000 ODI runs when his score was 36.

Younis, the undisputed Man-of-the-Match adorned his brilliant innings with 11 fours and a monstrous pulled six off Chawla that landed on the roof of the Majid Khan Enclosure.

Scoreboard

INDIA:

G. Gambhir c Afridi b Rao 35

V. Sehwag c Sarfraz b Rauf 49

S.K. Raina c Salman b Rauf 1

Yuvraj Singh c Sarfraz b Rao 37

M.S. Dhoni c Sarfraz b Sohail 76

R.G. Sharma c Rauf b Rao 58

Y.K. Pathan c Nasir b Saeed 0

I.K. Pathan not out 38

P. Kumar not out 1

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-8) 13

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 308

FALL OF WKTS: 1-88, 2-90, 3-91, 4-129, 5-241, 6-249, 7-290.

DID NOT BAT: Piyush Chawla, I. Sharma.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 10-0-87-1 (2w); Abdur Rauf 10-0-66-2 (3w); Rao Iftikhar 10-1-51-3; Shahid Afridi 10-0-52-0 (2w); Saeed Ajmal 10-0-47-1 (1w).

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt run out 36

Nasir Jamshed retired hurt 53

Younis Khan not out 123

Mohammad Yousuf b Chawla 21

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 70

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-2, NB-3) 6

TOTAL (for two wkts, 45.3 overs) 309

FALL OF WKTS: 1-65, 2-165.

DID NOT BAT: Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal. BOWLING: Kumar 8.3-1-61-0; I.K. Pathan 10-0-68-0 (1w); I. Sharma 10-1-63-0 (3nb, 1w); Y.K. Pathan 4-0-29-0; Chawla 8-0-53-1; Sehwag 5-0-34-0.

UMPIRES: I.J. Gould (England) and A.L. Hill (New Zealand).

TV UMPIRE: A.F.M. Akhtaruddin Shaheen (Bangladesh).

MATCH REFEREE: A.G. Hurst (Australia).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Younis Khan (Pakistan).