An assured opening salvo from Rahul Dravid, opening the batting in placeof the rested Sachin Tendulkar, led India’s pursuit of 287 in the finalone-dayer at Karachi

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Karachi19-Feb-2006
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Mahendra Singh Dhoni pulled out the most audacious of shots© AFP
A wave of inevitability enveloped the National Stadium at Karachi as Indiasigned off with an emphatic eight-wicket win and completed a 4-1 drubbingin style. Yet again India chased, yet again they triggered a top-ordercollapse, yet again they rode on a Yuvraj Singh special and yet again theyleft Pakistan quite hopeless at the end of it all. One just needed to seePakistan’s fielding to realise the rift between the two sides. It wasreally a no-contest.The scorecard might suggest otherwise – after all 288 can be a prettyimposing score. It was an impressive revival, once the top order falteredagainst Sreesanth and Co. for the fourth successive game, with MohammadYousuf and Younis Khan providing the boost. But considering the nature ofthe surface, the insipid nature of Pakistan’s bowling effort, and theiratrocious fielding display, no total might have been enough. Add YuvrajSingh’s near-invincible touch and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s golden hand,India’s 13th successful run-chase on the trot was almost written in stone.India started their chase in a clinical fashion, with Rahul Dravid andGautam Gambhir setting the tempo, but a tight spell of medium-pace fromthe inexperienced duo of Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Yasir Arafat reined themin. A totally assured Dravid notched up his fourth fifty as a one-dayopener, dropping anchor and piloting the innings, but his dismissal in the31st over, with the score on 141 opened up a small window for Pakistan.That was when Yuvraj and Dhoni, heroes of the Lahore triumph, sized up thesituation, stole quick runs and got through some tight overs. Occasionally,Yuvraj boomed cover-drives through the packed off-side field and releasedthe pressure while Dhoni, like a predator waiting to pounce, warnedhimself up with some running between the wickets.With wickets in hand, they were always in with a chance. With Pakistan’sfielders transforming into bumbling wrecks and bowlers turning on theerratic button, there was absolutely no doubt who would win it. In whatwas a critical point in the game, with India needing 94 and Yuvraj on 64,he drove uppishly to extra cover, at a comfortable catching height, butShoaib Malik, moving a bit too slowly, lunged to his left and fluffed it.It was a point that had a drastic effect on both sides – Pakistan’sfielding went from bad to worse and India pillaged the required runs atmore than 10 an over. Yuvraj was hampered by a hamstring pull when on 82, but hepowdered the bowling with shots straight out of a boxing manual. He mighthave been hobbling in pain but thunderous punches followed, uppercutsfollowed short-arm jabs as he brought up his first one-day hundred againstPakistan.At the other end, there was pure mayhem. Somewhere around the late 20s,Dhoni decided that enough was enough. Pulling out the most audacious ofshots – swivel slaps that zoomed to square leg, lofted drives offnear-yorkers – he spanked his last fifty runs in just 27 balls. MohammadAsif’s reverse-swinging deliveries were dispatched to midwicket; MohammadSami was lofted over long-on as if he was a part-time spinner and endedthe series with an astonishing average of 219.Nobody, though, should under-estimate the influence of India’s medium-paceattack, who, for the fourth time this series, delivered on a flat deck.Things were looking rosy for Pakistan when Kamran Akmal and Imran Farhatprovided them with a solid platform, but Sreesanth dented all their plansin a span of around five overs. He stuck to a straight line, varying hisangle of delivery intelligently, but was also helped by some shoddyjudgement from both the openers. He soon had his third wicket, with ShoaibMalik playing away from his body, and Pakistan found themselves in furtherstrife when Ramesh Powar, playing in his first game of the series, chokedthem with a spell of accurate offspin and snapped up Inzamam-ul-Haq.Unlike at Multan, though, the middle order showed the stomach for battle andYousuf led the way with an attacking knock. Thriving in the company ofYounis, he found the gaps with ease and the duo upped the ante in themiddle overs. Some wayward bowling in the middle overs, with several widesdown the leg side added to the pressure being released but Yousuf’s tamedismissal in the 41st over turned into a roadblock. A late blitz fromYounis boosted the total but it turned out to be a mere footnote in aspecial Indian win.IndiaGautam Gambhir c Kamran Akmal b Iftikhar Anjum 38 (69 for 1)
PakistanImran Farhat c and b Sreesanth 24 (62 for 1)
Kamran Akmal c RP Singh b Sreesanth 25 (71 for 2)
Shoaib Malik c Raina b Sreesanth 12 (77 for 3)
Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Powar 21 (115 for 4)
br>Mohammad Yousuf c Zaheer b Agarkar 67 (210 for 5)
Abdul Razzaq c Dravid b RP Singh 24 (239 for 6)
Yasir Arafat b Zaheer 10 (261 for 7)
Mohammad Sami c Kaif b Sreesanth 2 (264 for 8)
IndiaGautam Gambhir c Akmal b Rao 38 (69 for 1)
Rahul Dravid c Malik b Sami 50 (141 for 2)