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29 March 2024

Pakistan beat India by six wickets in first ODI

Published
By Allaam Ousman

Pakistan beat India by six wickets with 11 balls to spare in the first one-day international to go 1-0 up in the three-match series at MA Chindambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Nasir Jamshed virtually carried his bat to steer Pakistan to a comfortable victory with his second ODI century against India.

India's total of 227 for six never looked enough but Jamshed made it look easy for Pakistan stroking an unbeaten 101 facing 132 balls. He hit five boundaries and a six, profiting from a life at 68 when Yuvraj failed to hold on to a catch.

Like India, Pakistan suffered early setbacks and were struggling at 21 for two after 10 overs.

But former captain Younis Khan joined Jamshed to fashion Pakistan's recovery with a splendid third wicket partnership of 112.

There were some minor hiccups during the latter part of the innings when Misbah ul Haq departed while Shoaib Malik survived being caught behind off a huge no ball from spinner Ashwin in the 42nd over.

But Malik remained unbeaten on 34 and hit the winning boundary in the first ball of the 49th over bowled by Dinda.

Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq was pleased with the disciplined performance of his fast bowlers in particular.

"It was really good toss to win and the spell by Junaid Khan was very good. He has done it before in a Test match in Sri Lanka. Good to see that the bowlers pitched in the right areas in helping conditions," he said.

India were down in the dumps at 29 for 5 in six overs before skipper Dhoni resuscitated the innings with a magnificent unbeaten 113 in partnership with Suresh Raina and Ashwin.

"It was bad toss to lose, but I am happy with my batting. There was something for the fast bowlers, but they also pitched it in the right areas. Once we lost five wickets, it was difficult to come back," said Dhoni who was named man of the match.

Younia Khan stepped up the tempo during Pakistan's run chase when he pulled and swept consecutive deliveries off Yuvraj Singh to the fence in the 25th over.

Jamshed completed his half century off 78 balls which contained four boundaries.

The pair exposed India's lack of teeth in bowling when they took on Suresh Raina in the 29th over.

Khan reached his half century in style when he hoisted Raina into the sightscreen while two balls later Jamshed lofted him over long off into the stands.

Ashok Dinda broke through the third wicket partnership when Khan hit a low full toss to midwicket where Ashwin claimed a low catch inches off the ground.

He was given out after TV replays were reviewed.

Khan made 58 off 60 balls with three boundariies and six after having added 112 runs for the third wicket.

Ishant Sharma removed Misbah ul Haq who was deceived by a slower delivery for 16 after adding 39 runs for the fourth wicket with Jamshed.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar rocked Pakistan when they began chasing the target of 228 when he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez for a first-ball duck.

Kumar, who made a dream debut in the first Twenty20, made a spectacular start to his one-day career when he rattled the stumps with his first delivery with Hafeez misreading the inswinger and not offering a stroke.

Azhar Ali survived a confident shout for leg before in the first ball he faced from Kumar.

After struggling to make headway against India's pacers, Ali's patience finally ran out in the 11th over.

Attempting to hook Kumar, Ali only succeeded in miscuing it to Rohit Sharma for nine.

Jamshed survived a run out scare when he managed to scramble back after coming halfway down the pitch in the previous delivery.

Earlier, a magnificent unbeaten century by skipper MS Dhoni (113) lifted India to 227 for six recovering after a horror start.

Coming in to the middle when India had lost half their batsmen for a meagre 29 in six overs, Dhoni patiently set about rebuilding the damage first with Chennai Super Kings team mate Suresh Raina before stepping on the accelerator during an unbroken 125-run alliance with Ravichandran Ashwin (31) in 16.4 overs.

Dhoni's contribution was 91 during this stand as he completed his eighth career ODI century and second against Pakistan by hoisting Mohammad Irfan for his third six in an eventful 19th over.

First he brought up the 200 of the innings with a powerful drive on the off, completed 7,000 career ODI runs by slashing the next ball to the point boundary before lofting Irfan over extra cover to bring up his century.

It was a great comeback by India who were reeling after Junaid Khan had wreaked havoc with a fiery opening spell after being put in to bat by Pakistan.

Dhoni, given a life by his opposite number Misbah ul Haq, paced his innings beautifully content to play a supporting role during the 73-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Raina.

Left-hander Raina departed just when the batting powerplay was taken in the 34th over delaying the onslaught by Dhoni.

Raina saw his stumps rattled by a quicker delivery from Hafeez attempting to heave the spinner out of the ground after making 43 off 88 balls which contained two boundaries.

Dhoni, who battled cramps during the latter part of his knock, made his intentions clear when he smashed India's tormentor Khan over long on for the first six of the match in the 40th over.

His second six against off spinner Saeed Ajmal went soaring out of the grounds, requiring the ball to be replaced.

Dhoni needed just 32 balls for his second fifty after labouring 86 balls for his first 50 while India's last five overs yielded 52 runs.

His unbeaten 113 off 125 balls contained seven boundaries and three sixes.

India were reduced to 29 for five by the sixth over, with left armer Junaid Khan grabbing four wickets in a sensational opening spell.

The 23-year old southpaw from Abbotabad revelled in conditions which were conducive for the seamers in a devastating first spell that read 6-1-17-4 (1nb, 1w).

Four  batsmen were castled as the Pakistan pacers swung the ball around after Misbah ul Haq won the toss and put India into bat on a rain affected wicket .

India lost openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gabhir in quick succession.

Khan got the prized wicket of Sehwag who was bowled by a delivery which nipped back after having struck the same bowler in his first over for the first boundary of the match with a flick to midwicket.

Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir did not last long, with Mohammad Irfan disturbing his stumps with a snorter in the next over. Gambhir got a boundary off Irfan's previous over edging it to the third man.

Left-armer Khan struck two deadly blows within the space of three deliveries in his next over when he removed Virat Kohli and the dangerous Yuvraj Singh to reduce India to 20 for four at the end of the sixth over.

The Indian batting procession continued with Rohit Sharma falling to a brilliant diving catch at third slip by Mohammad Hafeez off Khan with the total on 29 in the 10th over.

Pakistan won the toss and put India into bat in a game which began after a delay off one hour.

Cricket statistician Mohandas Menon listed the miserable sequence of scores in Sharma's last nine ODI innings: 0, 4, 68, 5, 0, 0, 4, 4, 4 in his tweet (@mohanstatsman)

"If losing to England at home in a Test series wasn't a reason to pull your finger out, how about being slaughtered at home by Pakistan?," tweeted the doyen of commentators Richie Benaud ‏(@RichieBenaud_)

Umar Akmal was left out in place of the in-form Shoaib Malik by Pakistan while Sehwag returned for India in place of Ajinkya Rahane from the side that played in Ahmedabad.

The start was delayed by an hour because of wet outfield at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

The three-match series is the first since the resumption of bilateral tours between the two countries after a gap of five years.

India and Pakistan shared the honours in the two-match Twenty20 series.