Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni added 100 runs in 92 balls to lift India to a strong 294. Pakistan started off briskly but lost a clutch of wickets in the middle as the Indian bowlers managed a stranglehold on a turning track. Salman Butt joined hands with Misbah and slowly lifted Pakistan out of the hole and back into the game when Misbah fell. Salman, who hit his fourth ODI hundred - all have come against India- had too much to do on his own and India hung on to win.
In the end it was a good toss to lose for India. If you remember, Dhoni too said that he would have bowled had he won the toss. As the sun beat down on it, the wicket increasingly offered turn and bounce. Harbhajan, in particular, utilised it really well to turn in a good performance.
Post-match ceremony
Shoaib Malik: ""We were expecting to restrict them to 250 but Yuvraj and Dhoni played well. We dropped Yuvraj early in his innings and that proved costly. We need to work on our fielding. Salman played superb and we would like him to carry on with the good work. There are two games to go in this series and inshallah, we will come back."
Man of the Match is Yuvraj SIngh: " I would like to do well in Test cricket." On Yousuf's run out, he says : " I had told him don't run to my left hand but I guess he didn't listen to me!"
Dhoni: We were not bogged down by the loss in the last game. Yuvraj has been our trump card, he is our best batsman. We want him to play 30 overs and we will always a good total if he is around.
"Harbhajan was at his best. He exploited the conditions well. The pitch helped spin and he utilised it well. Murali didn't bowl as well as he could but Yuvraj chipped in with a good effort. It was nice to win a game here at Kanpur."
That's it from us. Join us for the next game at Gwalior.
Shoaib Akhtar c sub (RG Sharma) b Khan 1 (7m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
END OF OVER:47 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 247/9 (48 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.25, RRR: 16.00)
- Umar Gul1 (1b)
- Shoaib Akhtar1 (1b)
- Harbhajan Singh10-0-32-1
- RP Singh8-1-62-3
Salman Butt lbw b Harbhajan Singh 129 (210m 142b 17x4 0x6) SR: 90.84
END OF OVER:46 | 10 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 244/8 (51 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 5.30, RRR: 12.75)
- Salman Butt128 (138b)
- RP Singh8-1-62-3
- Harbhajan Singh9-0-29-0
Abdur Rehman b Singh 2 (9m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40.00
Dhoni suggests to RP that he go round the stumps.
Bilal Farooq: "Pakistan have shown a very composed approach to chasing huge targets. They devised a batting line up with responsibilities defined under each player, except Kamran Akmal. He has been tried up the order, down the order, regardless, he has consistently under performed for Pakistan. I think its high time we sought a replacement for him."
END OF OVER:45 | 3 Runs | PAK: 234/7 (61 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 5.20, RRR: 12.20)
- Abdur Rehman1 (3b)
- Salman Butt120 (134b)
- Harbhajan Singh9-0-29-0
- RP Singh7-1-52-2