Sunny caP(akis)ta(i)ns India to victory

It was New Year’s Eve, and it seemed the rain gods wanted to celebrate. Sunil Gavaskar was back as skipper. Arun Lal made way for him. And as Dilip Doshi’s brief One-day International career had come to an end, Madan Lal was the second change to the Indian side.

Pakistan made a couple of changes too – Jalal-ud-Din and Sikander Bakht made way for Tahir Naqqash’s return and the One-day International debut of Shahid Mahboob. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s skipper, who was, incidentally, born in Lahore, chose to bat on winning the toss.

Mohsin Khan, who faced a Kapil of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Dev, who broke the one-run stand. Mudassar Nazar, who faced 32 balls, scored 24. He was caught by Ravi Shastri, who broke the 69-run stand.

Zaheer Abbas scored 105. His 82-ball innings included eight boundaries and a six. He was caught by Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Mohinder Amarnath broke the 158-run stand. 

Javed Miandad, the player of the match, faced 77 balls, scoring 119. His innings included six boundaries and five boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was Wasim Raja, who faced a couple of balls, scoring a run.

India conceded three extras. Pakistan’s innings, which was curtailed to 33 overs due to rain, scored 252 for the loss of three wickets.

Balvinder Singh Sandhu and Madan Lal bowled seven wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 52, the latter conceded 35. Amarnath bowed five overs, conceding 50. He picked up a wicket.

Dev and Shastri bowled seven overs apiece, picking up a wicket each. While the former conceded 73, the latter conceded 39.

India’s target was revised to 176 off 27 overs, because at the end of their 27^th over, the Pakistanis had scored 175 for the loss of a couple of wickets.

Srikkanth, who faced 29 balls, scored 39. His innings included three boundaries and as many sixes. He was caught by Abbas. Mahboob broke the 57-run stand.

Sandeep Patil scored 51. His run-a-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes. He was caught by Raja. Mudassar broke the 115-run stand.

Dev, who faced five balls, scored eight. Mudassar trapped him leg before wicket, breaking the 13-run stand. Gavaskar scored 69. His 76-ball innings included seven boundaries and a six. He was caught by Mansoor Akhtar. Naqqash was in seventh heaven.

Yashpal Sharma scored four off as many balls. He was unbeaten, as was Amarnath, who faced a couple of balls, scoring a run. Pakistan conceded 21 extras. India scored 193 for the loss of four wickets off 27 overs, winning by 18 runs.

Imran bowled five overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 23. He was wicketless, as was Ijaz Faqih, whose seven overs yielded 39.

Naqqash, who bowled six overs, conceded 42. He picked up a wicket, as did Mahboob, who bowled seven overs, conceding 55. Mudassar bowled two overs, conceding 13. He picked up a couple of wickets.

Pakistan led the four-match series 2-1.