Pakistan v. India - ODI

[NickiSlater]

Pakistan won the toss and sent India in to bat.

[Donny]

And must be wondering why.

Sehwag is going berserk!! Oops. Well, he was. 82 from 57 balls.

India is 2/143 after 15 overs !! Over 9 r.p.o. Tendulkar made 28.

Naved-ul-Hasan has 1/39 from 3 overs and Razzaq's first over went for 18.
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They've slowed a bit but are still looking at 350 + if they don't lose too many wickets.

Ganguly made a run-a-ball 45 and Dravid is ticking it over on 35 n.o.

After 30 overs, it's 4/223. This could be BIG.

[Donny]

Well, not as big as it looked like being.

Wickets are falling. 350 in sight. 7/349 after 50. Dravid made 99.

[Donny]

The chase is on.

Early wickets then Youhana stroked 4 sixes in his 73 from 67 balls and Inzi is on 84 n.o. from 80.

After 36 overs, they're 3/219 needing 9 r.p.o. to win. Razzaq is next in and we know how explosive he can be.
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Inzi races to 96 n.o.
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Inzi goes to 103 n.o from 92 balls. They still need 103 runs from 69 balls. Younis is on 28 n.o. from 33.
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They need 92 from 60 balls.
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Now it's 77 from 50. Still only 3 down. They're right in this.
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Inzi out. 122 from 104 balls. Here comes Razzaq. Can he do it again ?
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Well he's started off ok. 12 from his first 8 balls. Younis is on 45 n.o. from 46
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Younis out for 46. Moin in. Razzaq races to 26 from 13 balls. 35 needed from 25.
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Razzaq bowled by Zaheer. 28 needed from 20.
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24 from the last 3 overs. What a finish !

Balaji (1/49) to bowl it. Moin and Malik the batsmen. 7 from the over.
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A 3 and a single. Now 13 needed from 10 balls.
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Moin needed a six from the last ball and was caught. India home by 5 in a fantastic game.

[Donny]

One blood, and one astonishing match

The Wisden Verdict by Rahul Bhattacharya


Evidently the hype, for once, has been worth it. On a day of measureless runs and emotions, India and Pakistan can be proud to have played an astonishing match before a deafening audience who can be no less proud of the manner in which they maintained the good name of their city. Everybody won, and this historic tour is now really with us.

This was a match, and an atmosphere, comparable to the last meeting between these teams, at Centurion in last year's World Cup. All through the day it rained a thumping noise ("I couldn't hear my team-mates," said Ganguly), and in the final hour it seemed as if the stadium might be jolted clean out of its foundations. Hereabouts the Pakistanis were batting out of their skins, moving towards victory in a game they never ought to have won from 34 for 2 chasing 350. Then, in the middle of the delirium of the last 20 minutes, came two moments of utter silence.

First Mohammad Kaif took an extraordinary catch, a gem of gems, running in some 30 yards from long-off to long-on, and diving right in front of the nose of Hemang Badani, averting the collision but still grabbing the ball while fully airborne. The second moment came as Ashish Nehra sent down a full-toss from the last ball of his superb final over – a boundary to win off the last ball, Pakistan v India, we've been there before – but Moin Khan lobbed a catch and there it ended.

Both times the crowd recovered, and applause followed. Karachi had a point to prove. They have felt angry and belittled that they were not granted a Test, and the image of an impatient and rough city was hardly helped by a riot during the ticket sales last week.

But today was impeccably organised. Instructions were passed via newspapers for non-ticket holders not to come to the ground, and layouts of parking arrangements for every stand were provided. One of the handful of flags that made it to the inside was half-Indian, half-Pakistani, and had on it the message: "One blood."

The cricket intelligence from the day was that no target is safe any more. This match still enthralled because the total was sufficiently larger than your regular mammoth one-day score as to introduce an element of awe. The audacity of a team almost hunting down 350 we haven't been accustomed to. As yet. Where will it all end?

It's not as if the bowlers were helpless. Here was a flat track, of course, but how on earth the Pakistani attack will explain their 20 no-balls and 10 wides to Javed Miandad only they know. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohamnmad Sami: what a sight they made today, flapping in and bowling at 150kph each, but how wasted their energies were. The rookie Rana Naved-ul-Hasan even managed to concede 17 runs off what amounted to one legal delivery. As for India, in two days their bowlers have been unable to defend 335 against Pakistan's second-string, and have almost failed to defend 349 against their first team. Nothing more need be said.

In a host of iridescent innings, Inzamam's shone the brightest. There was little hope when he walked in, yet, once he got going in his beguiling, languorous way, victory seemed almost certain. Composed and adventurous, careful and dismissive, he played an innings that should be remembered forever. The pity is that in what could turn out to be a festival of large scores, it might be forgotten before the month is out.