DHAKA, January 16: Just as the Dhaka streets were emptying into the National Stadium, an innocuous delivery from young Azhar Mehmood sparked off a series of images which an Indian cricket fan had got so used to in recent times. And, what started off with Sachin Tendulkar's inside edge in the second over today finally snowballed into a familiar climax in the Indian dressing room a little after the second final of the Independence Cup. Slumped shoulders, brooding faces and the captain struggling to wish away a shattering six-wicket entry in red.That the margin of victory would have been even more crushing but for a couple of casual swishes from the Pakistanis only deepened the depression. And significantly, once the top order failed to sparkle, it was fairly obvious that there was nothing too bright about their recent transformation. A tumble of wickets after Tendulkar, Ganguly and Azharuddin, a brief lull in the middle which hardly hassled the scorers and then a familiar whipping from the rival batsmen to end it all. The third final may yet give India a famous win, but it was still the same old Friday story, new captain or not.Then again, it was the same old Pakistan on the other side. For them the stakes were much higher than some of those golden swords which their captains regularly pick up in Sharjah. One final down, their cricket in turmoil and Prime Minister and chief patron of their cricket board, Nawaz Sharif marking attendance, they had a point to make without Akram and Waqar. Even then, the manner in which they went about it was simply awesome.The man of the moment this time was Mohammed Hussain, the burly left-arm spinner who escaped with a Rs 25,000 fine in November for having defied the PCB to play in the Dhaka league. Ironically, he recovered much more today in the form of two juicy cheques of US $2,500 each: one coming with the Man of the Match award and the other with the Most Valuable Player card.That decision anyway did not prompt any envious glances from the Pakistan batsmen, simply because it was Hussain's four weighty wickets that set the stage for the final pyrotechnics. In the event, Anwar's savage 51, Afridi's brutal early assault and Inzamam's demolition of leggie Sairaj Bahutule came as the right topping on a lovely outing.Hussain, who looks a bit too old for a 21-year-old, adjusted beautifully to the general plan on a slow turner, dropping them just on the stumps for the batsman to do the rest. Azhar got the pace wrong, Sidhu was fooled by the length, and Ganguly stuck by the turn. And after the captain's quiet 66, it was a tense Ajay Jadeja (34) who held things from falling apart.On such a day, when the wily Saqlain chipped in with three strikes and even tall Afridi had a ball, there was nothing much left for the Indians. Except, perhaps, for that unbelievable moment when Navjot Sidhu defied age and gravity to stun Inzamam. For the Pakistanis, Hussain's bite, Anwar's form and those two huge sixes from the Toronto villain would be enough reason to visit Dhaka more often. And to cap it all, the 40,000 vocal support cast happily dispersed with a mounting sense of anticipation for the sudden death on Sunday.SCOREBOARDIndia: S Ganguly c & b Hussain (43b, 2x4) 26, S Tendulkar b Mehmood (6b) 1, M Azharuddin c Aaqib b Hussain (88b, 6x4) 66, NS Sidhu c Mehmood b Hussain (21b) 6, A Jadeja c&b Aaqib (66b, 1x4) 34, Robin Singh c Afridi b Hussain (13b, 1x4) 5, N Mongia c Sohail b Saqlain (26b) 10, S Bahutule st Latif b Saqlain (11b, 1x4) 11, J Srinath b Aaqib (14b, 1x4) 12, Harvinder Singh not out (5b) 3, D Mohanty c Ijaz b Saqlain (9b) 4. Extras: (lb 3, nb 3, w 5): 11. Total (all out, 49.5 overs): 189.Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Tendulkar), 2-82 (Ganguly), 3-96 (Sidhu), 4-116 (Azharuddin), 5-124 (Robin), 6-151 (Mongia), 7-167 (Jadeja), 8-182 (Bahutule), 9-184 (Srinath).Bowling: Aaqib 10-0-49-2, Mehmood 7-1-28-1, Saqlain 9.5-0-36-3, Hussain 10-1-33-4, Afridi 10-2-21-0, Akhtar 3-0-19-0.Pakistan: S Anwar c Ganguly b Harvinder (40b, 8x4, 1x6) 51, S Afridi c Bahutule b Srinath (13b, 2x4, 1x6) 21, A Sohail c Azharuddin b Robin (56b, 3x4) 36, I Ahmed not out (45b, 5x4) 40, Inzamam c Sidhu b Robin (40b, 3x4, 3x6) 40, M Hussain not out (1b) 0. Extras: (lb 2, nb 2, w 1): 5. Total (for four wkts, in 31.3 overs): 193.Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Afridi), 2-105 (Anwar), 3-123 (Sohail), 4-189 (Inzamam).Bowling: Srinath 7-1-38-1, Mohanty 2-0-26-0, Harvinder 5-0-33-1, Bahutule 5-0-53-0, Robin 9-3-24-2, Tendulkar 3.3-0-17-0.Result: Pakistan won by six wickets.Man of the Match: Mohammed Hussain.
