Disappointingly
low participation in R Premadasa Stadium was the only gift that this
was not a full-fledged international fixture. No
quarter is asked and none given when India and Pakistan go head to
head, and it was no different on a cloudy afternoon and muggy Monday.By classification, it was a warm-up fixture before the ICC World Twenty20 2012, from Hambantota on Tuesday. No cricket match between India and Pakistan can never be just a 'warm-up' game, and this race-fest either. Pakistan
came through an exciting clash of former world champions T20, the 2009
winners overwhelming the 2007 Monarchs by five windows in a high-scoring
thriller.India seemed to have the upper hand after accumulating 185 for 3, but as usual, Pakistan gave up. Virat
Kohli and Rohit Sharma had provided the Indian entries required thrust,
and Pakistan found its own heroes in Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal as
they made their way to 186 for 5 with five deliveries to spare.The
eldest of the brothers Akmal played a lone hand position once thriving
with Mohammad Hafeez, the captain, was completed by R Ashwin. But when he found another ally in Malik, the match turned on its head. Malik
took his playing time as Akmal itself ran at full speed, clean plates
repeatedly limits a distance to keep Pakistan and hunting.Akmal
and Malik acquired more experienced players from India, Zaheer Khan and
Harbhajan Singh, triggering a series of strikes fleshy. Pakistan
was 111 for 5 after 14 overs, but stacked 46 in the next three years in
order to get into the last three overs, needed only 29 for victory. From there, it was a breeze, Akmal finished unbeaten on 92 and Malik made 37, his career spanning 95-stand just 46 deliveries.Ashwin
(4 of 23) clearly outbowled Harbhajan, nibbling a dangerous opening
partnership by getting rid of Imran Nazir, then rejected again, Hafeez,
Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal in the space of seven deliveries, but with
little more in aid, India could not mount a successful defense of its total intimidating.Ashwin, who was also celebrating his 26th birthday today, at one point looked to put India in a strong position. His figures read 4-0-23-4 and stop to fall was through a run-out and that too in its finish. The other bowlers could not live up to its billing though.Pakistan has another heating loop scheduled for Wednesday against England, and hopes his strongest claim, bowling is collected. The
nature of the strip Premadasa played a role, but Pakistan's bowling
lacked discipline usual, Saeed Ajmal only command respect with their
high quality offspin.India,
opting to bat, were given a frenetic start by Virender Sehwag, Gautam
Gambhir while, looking nothing worse for the maintenance of a blow to
his right hand in the previous match against Sri Lanka, was content to
play second fiddle. Boundaries flowed in abundance in the beginning, but the introduction of Ajmal brought a temporary lull in the proceedings.Ajmal
could have had Sehwag first ball, and got rid of it for a second,
acrobatic catch at point of Shahid Afridi, while conceding just one run
in his first over. Pakistan
provoked best bowling game phase, as admitted only 10 runs off five to
seven years, but that was the stage when Kohli and Rohit were getting
their eye in.Once the pair of size up conditions, which were quite unstoppable. Kohli,
in the middle of a run that earned him the ICC ODI Player of the Year,
was all classical strokeplay while Rohit continued his good form from
the previous encounter with an energetic beat for which was felt Afridi
leg-spin .At no time during the partnership's third wicket, 127 worth of just 79 deliveries, Pakistan seem to break. Hafeez
ring the changes, but beyond that, he could not do much more than the
two batsmen kept finding boundaries regularly and ran brilliantly
between the wickets as Pakistan athletics event in the relatively
extensive gardens.Kohli
was the first to reach his half century, Sohail Tanvir drilling back
past him, but India would have been more driven by 50 Rohit, coming as
it did on the back of a 26-37 ball against Sri Lanka Saturday. The partnership was finally ended by Ajmal in the penultimate over the entries, but by then it had become serious injury.
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