Pakistan v. India - ODI series decider

[Donny]

India haunted by finals record

Anand Vasu in Lahore - Cricinfo


And so, by dint of sheer hard work, by divine ordinance, or by clever manipulation – depending on what you choose to believe – the final game of this five-match series is set up perfectly. Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium is alive with activity as virtually every Lahori tries to get a piece of the action.

Action has been the buzzword of this series so far. Apart from Peshawar, where Pakistan's bowlers put the ball in the right areas consistently on a pitch that had a bit of juice in it, every match has seen runs rain down. Shortened boundaries and flat tracks have virtually taken the bowlers out of the equation. You could just as easily play the game as a contest between the two teams' batting line-ups.

The pitches have even removed the need for batsmen to try anything out of the ordinary. They can hit through the line, drive on the up and play cross-batted shots with impunity.

When it began, the series was billed as Pakistan's bowling versus India's batting, but it has not turned out that way. Both sides have batted with great ease, and although Pakistan's bowling attack is more formidable on paper, it has lacked the discipline needed to contain India's batting.

Every match has thrown up a bonanza of extras, with wides and no-balls padding out the Indian total. Javed Miandad, Pakistan's coach, admitted that this was a worry going into the last game. "You can't hold their hands and make them bowl. They have been working hard in the nets to sort out the problem," he said. "Everyone in the team is concerned."

Yousuf Youhana, the vice-captain, had concerns of his own. As one of two key batsmen in the team, alongside Inzamam-ul-Haq, he has not quite delivered as Pakistan wanted. "I'm not overly worried about my form," he said. "I have spent time in the middle and scored some runs. But, I've reached out away from my body to play and this is something I want to be careful about."

But there's every chance that Pakistan will strengthen their batting line-up by bringing in Taufeeq Umar in place of Shahid Afridi. Consistency at the top of the order has been an issue, but Afridi has held his place thanks to his utility as the sixth bowler. If he makes way for Taufeeq there will be added pressure on Abdul Razzaq to bowl his full complement of overs.

For India, anxiety and pressure arises not from the opposition, but from within their own ranks. Their recent record in finals – and that is what this game amounts to - is dismal. They have built momentum up beautifully until the climax, but then fallen flat. Their key batsmen – Sachin Tendulkar being a case in point – have failed to deliver when the pressure is at its highest.

Rahul Dravid, though, is the sort of seasoned campaigner who relishes this very challenge. He refused to dwell too long on the downer of India's performances on the big occasion. "Really only Australia have caused us trouble in a final," he said. "And this is really just the final match of a series, not the final of a tournament."

He can believe that if he likes, but everyone knows this is more than just the last match of a series. If you go by the atmosphere in Lahore, it might as well be the final of the World Cup.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Taufeeq Umar, 2 Yasir Hameed, 3 Yousuf Youhana, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Younis Khan, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Moin Khan (wk), 8 Shoaib Malik, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Shabbir Ahmed.

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 5 Rahul Dravid (wk), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Irfan Pathan, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji.

[Donny]

Final India-Pakistan match will affect ICC rankings

Wisden Cricinfo staff

The ICC has announced that the winner of the India-Pakistan series, to be decided in the fifth one-dayer on March 24, will be ranked higher than the other in the ICC ODI championship table.

At present, Pakistan is ranked fifth with 107 points, and India and England are just behind on 106 points. If India win the series, they will climb to fifth, with 107 points, and Pakistan will go down to 106. If Pakistan win, they will go to 108, with India slipping to 105. If the series – and the final match, of course – is tied, then the status quo will be maintained. Australia, of course, head the table, with a mammoth 135 points.

Meanwhile, South Africa will stay in second spot in the Test rankings even if they lose the third match to New Zealand. However, their rating of 113 points will drop to 108, and they will be just two points ahead of New Zealand, who will jump to third position. If South Africa win, though, they will remain comfortably placed at No. 2 with 112 points, while New Zealand will only be on 101.

Australia's victory against Sri Lanka at Kandy ensured that they would maintain a healthy lead over the rest of the field regardless of the outcome of the third Test. Even a defeat in Colombo would leave them with 125 points, as many as they had when they started the series, while a win would boost the tally to 127.

[Donny]

This kicks off at 8 tonight.

[Donny]

Laxman and Pathan star in emphatic Indian win

The Wisden Bulletin by S Rajesh - Cricinfo

In keeping with the rest of the games, the last match of the series produced another enthralling contest, but in the end India pulled off a comfortable 40-run win at Lahore to wrest the series 3-2. In a curious twist, India were put in and scored 293, exactly as many as Pakistan had in the previous match, at the same venue. Then, India had chased down the target with ease; here, Pakistan lost early wickets, and despite a spirited rear-guard effort, fell short.

The Indian victory was set up by two players – VVS Laxman, who caressed a glorious 107 off just 104 balls to ensure a competitive total, and Irfan Pathan, who came up with a superb performance of swing bowling to snare three early wickets. He finished with excellent figures of 3 for 32. Pakistan had their moments too – Shoaib Akhtar bowled with plenty of venom early on, while Moin Khan (72) and Shoaib Malik (65) retrieved a near lost cause, and made a match of it, but in the end, the target was just beyond their lower order.

After the ease with which India overhauled the same target three days back, Pakistan would have fancied their chances, but they were rocked early by Pathan, who took three of the first four wickets to reduce Pakistan to 58 for 4.

Pathan got into the act after Lakshmipathy Balaji got through Yasir Hameed's defences for 2 (8 for 1). Yousuf Youhana was trapped in front by one that straightened (9 for 2) – though replays suggested a thin inside edge – Taufeeq Umar paid the price for leaving his leg stump unguarded (25 for 3), while Younis Khan slapped a wide half-volley straight to Yuvraj Singh at point.


Inzamam was in glorious touch again, driving and pulling anything even fractionally off target with effortless ease. To add to India's worries, Sourav Ganguly was forced to leave the field after injuring his back while diving in the outfield. He was stretchered off the field, and Rahul Dravid took over the reins.

Inzamam had motored along to 38 off 50 balls, when he charged down the track to Murali Kartik, bowling over the wicket. The flat hit seemed to have just enough strength to clear long-on, but Tendulkar, skirting dangerously close to the boundary, hung on to the ball even as he ensured that he didn't step on the rope (87 for 5).

Abdul Razzaq's dismissal seemed to have sealed Pakistan's fate, but Malik and Moin then began the revival, first with singles and twos, and then, as their confidence grew, tonking a regular dose of boundaries as well. The asking rate kept mounting, but both batsmen ensured that it didn't spiral beyond manageable proportions. Malik finally holed out to Mohammad Kaif (195 for 7), ending the 99-run partnership, but Moin continued the fight, in the company of Mohammad Sami. Balaji and Virender Sehwag were both struck for sixes, as 27 came from two overs, and an asking rate of ten didn't seem completely unachievable.

However, sustaining that rate, with only three wickets in hand, proved to be the problem. Zaheer, so listless for most of the evening, produced a couple of splendid overs, defeating Sami's slog (248 for . Akhtar was run-out trying to evade the ball as Yuvraj hit the stumps, and Moin's spirited resistance was finally ended by Balaji. The match, and the series, was India's.

Earlier, Laxman was the star for India. Unlike in the previous games when he struggled for fluency early, here he found his groove from the start, timing the ball exquisitely on either side of the wicket. Sehwag fell an early victim to his own impetuosity, moving away to leg and trying to force a ball which was perfectly pitched in the corridor (34 for 1), but Laxman and Tendulkar motored along, feasting on some loose stuff from Sami. Tendulkar's 37 included some gorgeous drives through the off side, but an innings which promised much more ended in anticlimactic fashion, when he edged an attempted dab to the keeper (79 for 2).

Ganguly then joined Laxman, and while the singles – and the odd boundary – came along, the run-rate continued to hover at just more than five. Ganguly's 45 took 64 balls before he fell in a familiar manner, angling his bat and nicking one off Akhtar (171 for 3). The platform was perfect – India were 162 for 2 from 30 – but the launch didn't quite take off as expected, as Dravid and Yuvraj fell in quick succession, reducing India to 227 for 5.

All the while, Laxman moved along smoothly towards his hundred. His shots were seldom anything other than orthodox cricket strokes, but his immaculate timing and placement ensured that even a gentle caress found its way to the boundary. He found the gaps regularly even when the field was spread out – a couple of cover-drives late in the innings were wonderfully sublime, as were a two delicate late-cuts off Malik.

However, Pakistan's bowlers kept their heads, conceding only five wides and an equal number of no-balls, an enormous improvement from their effort on Sunday. Laxman finally fell to Malik, and only some late slogging from Pathan and Balaji took India close to 293. Before this match, every century-maker in this series had finished up on the losing side; Pathan's new-ball spell helped break that jinx.