Much ridicule was heaped on Inzamam by cricket's wise men when he put India in to bat after winning the toss. When India made a massive 349, these wise men were rolling in the aisles. But Inzamam had got it exactly right. Pakistan fell short by only five runs. Consider too that the Pakistan bowlers had not only bowled rubbish for most of the time but had bowled 20 no-balls and 10 wides. That's an extra five overs!

But this is one defeat that will not be galling, it will not hurt. Vajpayee had wanted his team to not only win but win the hearts of the Pakistani people. I have no doubt that it was Pakistan that won the hearts of millions of cricket fans all over the world. No magician could have conjured up such magic-Inzamam's innings of 122 off 104 balls. I was there in Auckland in 1992 and had seen a bud blossom into a flower, a young Inzamam taking the New Zealand bowling by the scruff of the neck and hanging it out to dry. There was something of that innings at the National Stadium and lots more but it was in the same heroic mould. Pakistan may have lost but surely there was egg on the faces of the many experts.

Pakistan was let down by its bowling. But how different it would have been had Shoaib Malik held on to a simple catch off Shoaib Akhtar before Virenda Sehwag had scored? Sehwag went on to make 79 blistering runs off only 57 balls and set up India's total. Sachin Tendulkar too was caught off a no-ball but Shoaib Akhtar got him before he could do any real damage. But India was going at a gallop and Pakistan playing one bowler short incredibly was looking at the dismal prospect of a total in excess of 400.

Rahul Dravid was looking ominous and he was getting good support. Pakistan was able to pull India back and Dravid missed a deserved hundred by one run. But 349 was a high mountain and many felt too high.

Pakistan needed to get off to a solid start but despite a flurry of strokes, lost both openers with 34 on the board. Inzamam and Yusuf Youhana then set about to repair the innings and lift the sagging morale of Pakistan's supporters. This was the crucial partnership and both brought their considerable experience and talent to the innings. It was a scintillating partnership and though the asking rate remained at a daunting eight to nine per over, one felt that all was not lost.

Youhana holed out when the score was 169 and he made 73 off 67 balls. I felt that Abdul Razzak might have sent instead of Younis Khan but by now Inzamam was in his element. When Inzamam was out Pakistan needed 72 runs off 47 deliveries. Improbable but not impossible. Every batsman contributed, Razzak made 27 off 11 balls and in the final over Pakistan needed nine and fell short, Ashish Nehra held his nerve.

What an incredible match. 793 runs were scored. But even more wondrous was the Karachi crowd. Throughout the day the crowd kept with the tempo of the match. And it had a great time. If it had a point to prove it did so to the hilt. It was generous in its applause and at the end, there was a standing ovation for both teams. Both the teams should have given a standing ovation to this lovely crowd.

No one could have scripted a better start to the series and if Pakistan and India can produce only half of what we saw at the National Stadium, there is a feast waiting for the cricket fans at Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore. Karachi has raised the bar. Will the rest of the matches be an anti-climax? Surely, there cannot be such a match again? It would take another miracle.

If Inzamam had been a West Indian, a calypso would have been composed in praise of him. What are our musicians waiting for? But praise for both the teams and hopefully a dressing down for the bowlers and congratulations to our guests. And a huge shahbash to the cricket fans of Karachi who did us proud.