(Sach)India beat Pakistan, level series

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Rahul Dravid made way for Vinod Kambli. Pakistan made no changes to theirs. On winning the toss, Saeed Anwar, the latter’s skipper, chose to bat. He scored 18. His 22-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Rajesh Chauhan, who broke the 55-run stand.

Shahid Afridi, whose 56-ball innings included nine boundaries and a six, scored 72. He was caught by Abey Kuruvilla. Nilesh Kulkarni broke the 71-run partnership. Ijaz Ahmed, whose 54-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 31. He was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin. Kulkarni broke the 22-run stand.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, whose 92-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, scored 74. He was unbeaten. Saleem, whose 34-ball innings included a boundary, scored E(lah)ighteen. He was caught by Kulkarni. Chauhan broke the 49-run partnership. Khan, whose 33-ball (Mo)innings included a six, scored 31. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 21 extras. Pakistan, whose innings closed at 47.2 overs, scored 265 for the loss of four wickets. Crowd trouble on four occasions, a delay due to third umpiring decisions, and an injury on the field resulted in heavy loss of time, and a poor over rate. The fourth crowd disruption made the Indians walk out. At that stage, the innings closed.

Sachin Tendulkar had no to be in seventh heaven – he bowled a wicketless over. Debasis Mohanty, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 25. Robin Singh, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 23.

Kuruvilla, who bowled 7.2 wicketless overs, conceded 50. Sourav Ganguly, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 39. Kulkarni and Chauhan bowled 10 overs each, picking up a couple of wickets apiece. While the former conceded 66, the latter conceded 48.

India had to achieve its target (266) in 47 overs. Tendulkar, whose 18-ball innings included two boundaries and a six, scored 21. He was caught by Khan. Azhar Mahmood broke the 71-run partnership.

Ganguly, the player of the match, scored 89. His 96-ball innings included 11 boundaries. He was caught by Afridi. Waqar Younis broke the 98-run stand. The third-wicket pair put on 10. Kambli, whose 76-ball innings included seven boundaries, scored 53. Shahid Nazir, the substitute, ran him out.

The fourth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Azharuddin, whose 10-ball innings included a boundary, scored six. Anwar ran him out. Ajay Jadeja, who faced 19 balls, scored eight. He was caught by Ahmed. Afridi broke the 10-run stand.

Singh, whose 32-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 31. He was unbeaten. Karim, whose 32-(Sa)ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. Younis broke the 62-run partnership. Chauhan, whose three-ball innings included a six, scored eight. He was unbeaten.

Pakistan conceded 24 extras. India scored 266 for the loss of six wickets off 46.3 overs, winning by four wickets with three balls to spare. Saqlain Mushtaq bowled 9.3 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 46.

Aaqib Javed bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 73. Mahmood and Afridi bowled nine overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 56, the latter conceded 48. Younis, who bowled nine overs, conceded 36. He picked up two scalps.

The three-match series was level at 1-1.