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Despite Sachin’s 141, Pakistan force a
win Rawalpindi, March 16 In another high-scoring match in which a total of 646 runs were made, Pakistan notched up 329 for six, largely due to a blazing 80 in 58 balls by Shahid Afridi on his return to international cricket. India chased the stiff target till the 49th over before being all out for 317 to leave the two teams tied 1-1 in the five-match series. Tendulkar made a brilliant 141 in 135 balls with the help of 17 fours and one six but his valiant effort went in vain. This was the first century by an Indian on Pakistani soil and the highest by the batting genius against the arch-rivals. India were in the hunt till the 45th over but they lost Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan in the space of six balls to tilt the balance in Pakistan’s favour. Kaif and Zaheer were dismissed off successive balls by local hero Shoaib Akhtar in the 46th over. A great fightback by Ramesh Powar who scored 18 off 11 balls and Lakshimathy Balaji (14 off 10 balls with 3 fours) again brought India back into contention as they reduced the equation to 15 off 12 balls. But Balaji was run out while trying to steal a single off Mohammad Sami. When Mohammad Sami clean bowled last man Ashish Nehra, batting with a bandaged arm, off the third ball of the penultimate over, the packed stands of the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium erupted into celebrations. The third match of the series would be played in Peshawar on Friday. The Indian innings got off to a fairly brisk start with Sehwag playing with the customary flourish although the Pakistani new ball operators managed to generate some pace under the floodlights. Shoaib’s first over cost seven runs, while Shabbir Ahmed, back in the team after a hand injury, was hit for a rasping boundary in his second over. Tendulkar appeared to be
a little subdued in the initial stages but gradually opened up after chipping Shoaib over the slips cordon for a boundary in the third man region. The Indian openers stitched 56 runs in 8.1 overs before Shoaib drew first blood by sending Sehwag’s off-stump cartwheeling with a ball which kept slightly low. Sehwag’s cameo knock of 26 came off 21 balls and contained four boundaries. The home team struck again three overs later when speedster Mohammad Sami sent back the stylish VVS Laxman cheaply to reduce India to 71 for two. Laxman was trapped leg before wicket to an incoming delivery. But Tendulkar, who grew in confidence as the innings wore on, and captain Sourav Ganguly steadied the ship by not taking too many risks and keeping the scoreboard moving with gentle pushes and nudges. The
Indian captain could have returned to the pavilion without opening his account had Shoaib not dropped a straight forward catch at mid off with Shabbir Ahmed being the unlucky bowler. Ganguly celebrated the stroke of luck by flicking the bowler to the fine leg for a boundary two balls later. The hard-hitting Afridi, playing his first match since the World Cup last year, gave a stunning display of strokeplay while his opening partner Yasir Hameed also scored a fine, albeit controlled, 86 to lay the foundation for an imposing total. Scoreboard Pakistan Hameed run out 86 Afridi b Yuvraj 80 Youhana b Yuvraj 24 Inzamam b Nehra 29 Younis Khan c Dravid b Nehra 28 Moin Khan lbw b Nehra 0 Malik not out 30 Razzaq not out 31 Extras (lb-6, nb-1, w-14) 21 Total (for six wkts in
50 overs) 329 Fall of wickets: 1-138, 2-191, 3-225, 4-249, 5-249, 6-284. Bowling: Laxmipathy Balaji 6-0-47-0, Zaheer Khan 7-0-72-0, Ashish Nehra 10-0-44-3, Virender Sehwag 5-0-39-0, Yuvraj Singh 10-1-41-2, Ramesh Powar 6-0-35-0, Sachin Tendulkar 6-0-45-0. India Sehwag b Akhtar 26 Tendulkar c Razzaq b Malik 141 Laxman lbw b Sami 4 Ganguly st Moin b Afridi 15 Dravid b Sami 36 Yuvraj c Shabbir b Afridi 19 Kaif c Malik b Akhtar 7 Powar not out 18 Zaheer Khan lbw b Akhtar 0 Balaji run out 14 Nehra b Sami 0 Extras (b-3, lb-21, nb-7, w-6) 37 Total (all out in 48.4 overs) 317 Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-71, 3-140, 4-245, 5-260, 6-282, 7-284, 8-284, 9-314. Bowling:
Shoaib Akhtar 9-1-49-3, Shabbir Ahmed 9-0-65-0, Mohammad Sami 9.4-1-41-3, Shoaib Malik 10-0-59-1, Shahid Afridi 8-0-57-2, Abdul Razzaq 3-0-22-0. —
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Tendulkar Man of the Match Rawalpindi, March 16 Tendulkar, who became the first Indian to score a one-day century in Pakistan, led the chase with the gallant knock before being caught in the deep by Abdul Razzak off offie Shoaib Malik while trying to force the pace. He hit 17 fours and one six. This was the 37th one-day century by Tendulkar who also crossed 13,000 runs in the shorter version of the game when when he reached 51.
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Tendulkar hits India’s first ODI ton in Pak Rawalpindi, March 16 Tendulkar achieved the milestone with a single off paceman Shoaib Akhtar for his third ODI hundred against the arch-rivals and the 37th of his career. Indian vice-captain missed the record when he was dismissed for 99 in the first one-dayer in Karachi. Today’s tie is the 17th between India and Pakistan in Pakistan. Earlier in his innings, Tendulkar completed 13,000 runs when he reached 51. Tendulkar has scored his runs at an average of nearly 45 and leads the pack of highest ODI run getters by a mile. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is placed 3422 runs behind Tendulkar on 9,607 (average 38.93) from 309 matches. Former Indian captain Mohd Azharuddin is third with 9,378 runs from 334 matches at an average of 36.92. —
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