Haq, Waqar pack a double punch for Pak

In yet another shocking display, first the Indian bowling was `butchered’ and when it boiled down to their batsmen, they had already turned their backs in the face of some menacing fast bowling. The Pakistanis, who till yesterday were in search of that elusive piece of luck, had the burly Inzamam-ul-Haq and fast bowler Waqar Younis to spell the Indian doom and bring their side back in the reckoning in the day-night Coca-Cola Cup tri-series here at the Sharjah Stadium.

Pakistan’s 98-run win under the lights not only brought life back into their supporters, it also altered the tournament equation. India, who were looking the second best team, have to beat South Africa on Monday and, then, expect Pakistan to lose to South Africa on Tuesday for a berth in the final.

India would be in trouble if they beat South Africa and Pakistan win their game too. That would mean a three-way tie at the top and because of their poor net run rate, India would fail to make the cut.

If the day belonged to Inzamam’s amazing unbeaten 121, in which he reduced the pedestrian Indian bowling to club level, hitting nine fours and five towering sixes, Waqar painted his class all over the night. India, chasing a highly-challenging target of 273, saw two of their big guns, skipper Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, falling to a clever change of pace. Earlier, Inzamam and Youhana took the aerial route which also gave Pakistan plenty to cheer about. And, when the two were through, Pakistan had amassed 272 for three in 50 overs — on what was easily the best batting surface of this tournament.

It is amazing how Inzamam, who appears a most gentle person off the field, displays such powers of demolition when on it. His unbeaten seventh one-day century was surprisingly his first against the arch rivals. Inzamam and Youhana seemed to have planned to go after leg spinner Anil Kumble, India’s best bet under adverse conditions.

Once Kumble was sorted out, being hit for five sixes, the rest were easy meat for the rampaging Pakistani pair. Of their 151-run fourth-wicket stand, a Pakistan record against India, the two blasted 125 runs off the final 15 overs. In the end, Pakistan’s calculated risk of including their half-fit pace duo of Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, knowing India’s perennial weakness against pace bowling, paid off wonderfully well — a fact acknowledged by Ganguly after the match.

SCOREBOARD :

PAKISTAN
I Nazir c Kumble b Agarkar (18b, 1×4) 11
S Afridi st Karim b Kumble (41b, 4×4) 28
Y Khan c Azhar b Joshi (66b, 3×4, 1×6) 44
I Haq not out (113b, 9×4, 5×6) 121
Y Youhana not out (64b, 5×4, 1×6) 56
Extras: (lb2, nb2, w8) 12
Total (for three wickets in 50 overs) 272
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Nazir), 2-55 (Afridi), 3-121 (Younis)
Bowling: Agarkar 10-0-50-1 (1nb, 2w), Prasad 10-0-63-0 (1nb, 1w), Kumble 9-0-66-1, Robin 10-1-34-0 (1w), Joshi 9-2-42-1, Ganguly 1-0-4-0, Tendulkar 1-0-11-0

INDIA
S Ganguly c&b Waqar (12b, 1×4) 7
S Tendulkar b Akram (18b, 1×4) 10
R Dravid c Moin b Akhtar (46b, 3×4) 29
S Joshi c Moin b Waqar (8b) 3
M Azhar c Moin b Waqar (46b, 1×4) 20
A Jadeja b Waqar (26b, 2×4) 20
R Singh c Moin b Arshad (49b, 1×4) 22
S Karim c Y Khan b Arshad (29b) 13
A Agarkar b Waqar (37b) 20
A Kumble not out (29b) 14
V Prasad not out (3b) 0
Extras: (lb2, w11, nb3) 16
Total: (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 174
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Ganguly), 2-20 (Tendulkar), 3-25 (Joshi), 4-63 (Dravid), 5-90 (Azhar), 6-99 (Jadeja), 7-131 (Karim), 8-137 (Robin), 9-172 (Agarkar)
Bowling: W Akram 7-2-16-1 (2w), W Younis 10-1-31-5 (1nb, 2w), Razzaq 5-1-29-0, Akhtar 5-0-24-1 (1w), A Khan 10-0-32-2, Afridi 8-0-22-0 (2nb, 1w), Y Khan 4-0-17-0, I Nazir 1-0-2-0 (1w)

Men of the Match: Haq & Waqar

Monday’s match: India vs South Africa.