Sohail scripts Pakistan8217;s success

India 256-9 50 oversPakistan 258-5 48.2 oversTORONTO, Sept 21: Completing an amazing turnaround in form and fortune, Pakistan overhau...

India 256-9 50 overs
Pakistan 258-5 48.2 overs

TORONTO, Sept 21: Completing an amazing turnaround in form and fortune, Pakistan overhauled an Indian target of 256 in the final one-dayer to reverse the Sahara Cup scoreline of last year, winning it 4-1. They rallied smartly after losing the first game, and one was left wondering what in heavens went wrong with the Indians.

Sunday8217;s final game capped the misery. After setting a defendable 256 on contributions from the ultimate pro Sachin Tendulkar and the enigmatic Azhar, India threw it away with ordinary bowling and poor fielding.

The more experienced head of Azhar at the helm, or the spirited presence of Tendulkar in the field, may have made a difference. But both nursed themselves in the pavilion and it was left to Saurav Ganguly 8212; not Jadeja or Sidhu 8212; to lead a side that was not exactly high on morale or motivation.Ganguly leads Bengal in the Ranji Trophy back home and although he did a competent job here to keep the game fairlyclose, there was a certain lack of tightness in his stewardship that made the difference.

The bowlers, save Srinath and Joshi, were again profligate. Despite the early wicket of the explosive Shahid Afridi, they allowed Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail to add 119 for the second wicket to lose control of the game.Some half a dozen boundaries were gifted with stray balls on the legside after the fineleg was brought in the circle, a small showcase of the indiscipline with which Prasad and Agarkar bowled. Add to it a clutch of misfields and wooden movements by a fielding ring that was always a shade too deep, and the Indians never really established a stranglehold.

To wit, the Pakistani asking rate was rarely pushed beyond six. Saeed Anwar made 83 in 94 balls and was within range of his 16th one-day hundred when he to give India a small opening, which widened a little more when Inzamam was out leg before first ball to Sunil Joshi, who again bowled quite diligently amid all the disarray.

But Salim Malik andSohail closed it with a partnership of 46 which took Pakistan within about 40 at around run a ball with wickets to spare. The door opened another crack when Malik was out for 25 and his brother-in-law Ijaz Ahmed followed. But Mongia put down a skier at a crucial time, and when Ganguly later was creamed for 16 in the 47th over with 25 needed, it was curtains.

Scoreboard

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India: S Ganguly c Inzamam b Mahmood 9, S Tendulkar c Inzamam b Sohail 77, N Sidhu lbw b Mahmood 0, M Azharuddin camp;b Saqlain 101, A Jadeja b Afridi 5, N Mongia c Afridi b Saqlain 8, J Srinath c Moin b Sohail 10, S Raul lbw b Saqlain 0, A Agarkar not out 14, S Joshi c Inzamam b Saqlain 19;

Extras lb2, w9, nb2 13.
Total for nine wickets in 50 overs 256.
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-35, 3-156, 4-175, 5-207, 6-213, 7-213, 8-227, 9-256.
Bowling: Aaquib 7-0-26-0, Azhar 10-2-30-2, Zahid 5-1-29-0, Afridi 8-0-43-1, Saqlain 10-0-67-4, Sohail 10-0-59-2.
Pakistan: Saeed Anwar lbw Joshi 83,Shahid Afridi b Srinath 10, Aamir Sohail not out 97, Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Joshi 0, Salim Malik c agarkar b Srinath 25, Ijaz Ahmed c mongia b Srinath 8, Moin Khan not out 12; Extras b4, lb6, w11, nb2 23.
Total for five wickets in 48.2 overs 258.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-167, 3-167, 4-213, 5-222.
Bowling: Srinath 10-0-50-3, Prasad 10-0-47-0, Agarkar 9-1-46-0, Ganguly 6-0-45-0, Jadeja 1.2-0-10-0, Raul 2-0-14-0, Joshi 10-0-36-2.
Man of the Match: Aamir Sohail.
Man of the Series: Inzamam-ul-Haq