Haq-ed

Finally we witnessed a thriller. Pakistan skipper Inzamam Ul Haq smashed the last ball of the match to the boundary and with it set up the r...

Finally we witnessed a thriller. Pakistan skipper Inzamam Ul Haq smashed the last ball of the match to the boundary and with it set up the remainder of the series, delicately balanced at 2-2 with two more matches to go.

Every side taking first strike in this series has posted a 300-plus total so far. India did too, here, but were upstaged by an efficient, organised, committed Pakistan.

They fought the heat and nerves to overtake a steep Indian total of 315-6 off 48 overs.

Through the series Inzamam has said how difficult it was for the team fielding first to chase because of the intense heat and humid conditions at all the venues. But today was going to be different. Today, each of the top five Pakistani batsmen contributed, forged partnerships before skipper Inzamam summoned his concentration and experience to mark a memorable win.

8216;8216;Our boys have scored more than eight-nine runs per over in the later stages of the first three matches so I never thought we were in any bother8217;8217;, said Inzamam, whose unbeaten 60 off just 59 balls was the centrepiece of the Pakistan innings and earned him the man of the match award.

Typically, Inzamam acknowledged the partnerships stitched together by Razzaq and Shoaib Malik.

8216;8216;I may have finished the match but all credit goes to them for building that foundation for us. After seeing the Indian total we felt that if we could keep wickets in hand and accumulate 4-5 runs an over till the 35th over we8217;d be able to achieve our target.8217;8217;

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India, meanwhile, have only themselves to blame. After 15 overs India raced away to 100-1 with Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendar Dhoni attacking the bowlers despite the loss of Virender Sehwag8217;s wicket in the eleventh over.

With the field spread after fourteen overs, the pair concentrated on running the singles before upping the ante again in the 26th over of the game. Between the 15th and the 25th over, India scored 43 runs but then stepped on the gas and scored 49 in the next six.

The fall of Dhoni8217;s wicket, however, saw the Indian innings lose momentum.

The reason was the rigidity in the batting line-up. At a time when the innings was gaining momentum and Sachin Tendulkar was cramping badly did it make sense to have Sourav Ganguly, struggling for runs, walk in at number four?

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The scoring rate fell drastically and just 48 runs were scored in the nine overs that Ganguly stayed at the crease.

Add to that Tendulkar struggling to cope with the heat and even the singles dried up. Ganguly scratched around for 33 balls for his 18 before he was run out.

Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh then gave impetus yet again to the innings but precious time was lost.

India seemed in danger of not crossing the 300-run mark at that stage but for the late assault from Yuvraj, who played a cameo 35 off just 26 balls. India scored 46 of the last four overs of the innings.

INDIA8217;S LAST BALL LOSSES: PAK8217;S HAT TRICK

	nbsp;	Margin	Opponent	Total	India8217;s Total	Venue	Date	nbsp;
	nbsp;	1 wkt	Pakistan	248-9 50	245-7 50	Sharjah	18 Apr 1986	nbsp;
	nbsp;	4 wkts	England	224-6 48	223-3 48	Jaipur	18 Jan 1993	nbsp;
	nbsp;	2 wkts	Pakistan	196-8 49	195 48.5	Brisbane	10 Jan 2000 Story continues below this ad	nbsp;
	nbsp;	4 wkts	West Indies	285-6 50	283-6 50	Jamshedpur	06 Nov 2002	nbsp;
	nbsp;	3 wkts	Pakistan	319-7 48	315-6 48	Ahmedabad	12 Apr 2005	nbsp;
	nbsp;	target revised						nbsp;

SCOREBOARD

	nbsp;	INDIA: V Sehwag run out 29, S Tendulkar b Malik 123, M Dhoni c Akmal b Malik 47, S Ganguly run out 18, R Dravid c Naved-ul-Hasan b Malik 19, Y Singh not out 35, M Kaif b Sami 5, Z Khan not out 0 Extras lb-9 nb-15 w-15 39 Total for 6 wickets, 48 overs 315 Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-194, 3-242, 4-248, 5-288, 6-296 Bowling: Sami 9-0-54-1, Naved 8-0-64-0, Afridi 9-0-50-0, Razzaq 10-0-42-0, Kaneria 3-0-29-0, Malik 9-0-67-3 PAKISTAN: S Butt lbw Kartik 48, S Afridi c Tendulkar b Balaji 40, A Razzaq c Kartik b Tendulkar 44, S Malik c Balaji b Kartik 65, Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 60, Y Youhana c Balaji b Khan 11, Y Khan run out 8, K Akmal run out 10, M Sami not out 8 Extras lb-3 nb-6 w-16 25 Total for 7 wickets, 48 overs 319 Fall of wkts: 1-68, 2-107, 3-183, 4-253, 5-265, 6-281, 7-295 Bowling: Balaji 7-0-51-1, Nehra 9-0-75-0, Khan 10-0-62-1, Sehwag 1-0-4-0, Kartik 10-0-55-2, Y Singh 5-0-33-0, Tendulkar 6-0-36-1	nbsp;