ABU DHABI, April 18: India set Pakistan seemingly a modest target of 198 to win after being bowled out for 197 on the last ball of the innings on a slow and low bounce pitch in the first-ever One-day International at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and considering the heat-wave condition and the unknown character of the strip opted to play safe and decided to bat first.

To no one's surprise, India left out out-of-form duo of Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif while Pakistan picked their best possible XI, which included four seamers and two spinner-cum-batsmen Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi with no place for the only specialist spinner in the side, Danish Kaneria.

The Indians found the going tough from the first ball as stroke-making became hazardous with the runs coming in trickles. In an effort to perk up the run-rate which never crossed four an over, India lost wickets at regular intervals.

India's cause was also not helped by the run outs of Dravid and Irfan Pathan while opener Robin Uthappa and the in-form Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply as India nosedived to 72 for four.

Youngters Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao gave the innings some impetus by sharing the highest partnership – 65 for the fifth wicket – but they too found the runs hard to come by.

Raina made 40 off 67 balls while Venugopal Rao remained unbeaten on a 93-ball 61. Both the batsmen hit three fours each which illustrated inability of the batsmen to come to the terms with the slowness of the pitch.

None of the later batsmen, including dashing Mohinder Singh Dhoni, who was outfoxed by a Shoaib Malik's delivery, made any significant contribution and two more run outs added to the Indian woes.

Shoaib proved the most effective bowler and claimed two wickets for 40 runs from his full quota of overs. Pace sensation Mohammad Asif went wicketless but was very economical as was Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar.

The most expensive bowler was Rana Navedul Hasan but he provided Pakistan the first break through having Uthappa caught by Mohammad Yousuf.

Pakistan's outcricket was much better despite oppressive conditions. Another plus point for Pakistan was the bowlers who continued to show marked improvement by giving away lesser number of no-balls and wides although Pathan was reprieved by a no-ball from Asif, whom he hooked straight into the hands of Afridi.

Taking into account the nature of the wicket, it will not be easy for Pakistan batsmen to score freely especially against spinners. But playing sensibly without taking much undue risks the target is achievable.

Scoreboard

INDIA:

R.T. Uthappa c Yousuf b Rana Naved 12

R. Dravid run out 20

Irfan Pathan run out 26

Yuvraj Singh c Kamran b Rao Iftikhar 7

S.K. Raina c Rao Iftikhar b Afridi 40

Y. Venugopal Rao not out 61

M.S. Dhoni b Shoaib 3

A.B. Agarkar c Rao Iftikhar b Shoaib 12

R.R. Powar c Rao Iftikhar b Shoaib 5

Harbhajan Singh run out 3

S. Sreesanth run out 0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-5) 8

TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 197

FALL OF WKTS: 1-25, 2-47, 3-65, 4-72, 5-136, 6-149, 7-171, 8-180, 9-196.

BOWLING: Mohammad Asif 8-1-24-0; Rana Navedul Hasan 9-0-51-1 (1w); Rao Iftikhar 7-1-24-1; Abdul Razzaq 6-1-13-0; Shahid Afridi 10-0-42-1 (1w); Shoaib Malik 10-0-40-3 (3w).

PAKISTAN: Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamamul Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana Navedul Hasan, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif.

UMPIRES: R.E. Koertzen and B.F. Jerling (both South Africa).

TV UMPIRE: T.H. Wijewardene (Sri Lanka).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).