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Easy win for India at Guwahati : 1st ODI

Filed under Ind vs Pak

Akhtar-Comeback-Guwahati.jpg Captain Mallik took the bold decision to bat first. Shahid Afridi, for the 2nd time in a long time, looked hungry for a win. Salman Butt kept his promise to bat well against arch-rival Indians, & then we had experienced Mohammad Yousuf playing crucial innings of not out 83 runs..

Yet, Indian boys looked a superior team. In all departments! Result -

India vs Pakistan, First ODI Guwahati, Indian Oil Cup ODI series 2007 : India win by 5 wickets (3 overs to spare) & lead the 5 match series 1-0 with 4 to go

After Kolkata & Jamshedpur, Salman Butt looked good for another century in India here at Assam cricket ground. His timing was perfect & gaps were coming frequently. Trouble was - neither Kamran Akmal or Younis Khan rotated the strike frequently enough. Even Afridi failed to pick up the scoring rate, after spending more more on pitch (32 balls) than he usually does. Shoaib Mallik himself or T20 hero Misbah-ul-Haq too failed while fueling the innings acceleration & Pakistan ended up with only 239 from their 50 overs.

Indian bowling was way too disciplined & fielding very tight!

The chase, to tell you honestly, was easy for confident Indian batting. Shoaib Akhtar looked 'heavy on his feets' (said Commentator Rameez Raja) and although he hit the mark of 153.3 kmph of speed, his bowling lacked the sharpness we associate Rawalpindi express with. Sourav Ganguly had a new partner in Gautam Gambhir, after the lbw of Sachin B Akhtar - and 82 run partnership set the platform for the middle order. Captain Dhoni promoted himself at number 4 so that left-right combination can be continued at the middle.

Yuvraj played good hand with Dhoni, and that was striking blow on Pakistan challenge to win this 1st ODI!

The Scorelines
Butt 50(57), Akmal 12(20), Younis 25(58),
Yousuf 83*(88), Afridi 31(32), Mallik 2,
Misbah 27. Bhajji 0/29 in 10 ovs. Ex-9.
Pakistan 239 for 7 in 50 overs.
India 242 for 5 in 47 overs.
Ganguly 39(55),Tendulkar 4,Gambhir 44(51),
Dhoni 63(77), Yuvraj 58(74), Uthappa 11*.
MOM - Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Few notes from Guwahati
-I noticed Pakistani batsman talking a lot at the middle of pitch between the overs. Even Aussie batsman talk a lot and plan the instant stategy for next overs.. may be it was little coach Geoff Lawason effect on Pak team!

-Sachin Tendulkar played his 4-3rd ODI. He now has joined Sanath Jayasuriya as most ODI capped player and expected to run away with record as Srilankan opener will be playing 5 consecutive test matches before meeting India in Commonwealth Bank tri-series in Australia in January 2008.

-Twice by Shahid Afridi & once by Misbah-ul-Haq - the Pakistan batsmen moved extra yard to get the ball and return to Harbhajan Singh, which showed nice spirit by the arch-rival players.

-Sourav Ganguly, I must say, looked in good form. but wonder when was last time when this left hand opener scored a one day International century?? it was against Kenya in semi-final of 2003 world cup final.

-This was 112nd ODI between the two countries and now India have 41 wins over Pakistan whereas vice-versa stands at 64 victories for Pakistan. More on head to head.




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