There were high hopes from this game and it did not disappoint. The game swung back and forth till the very end. India got off to a great start with a fantastic opening partnership. However, once the wickets started to fall Pakistan did very well to restrict India to 133. The Indian bowling then get off to a fantastic start thanks to Kumar. The Pakistani skipper – Mohammad Hafeez - and Malik however fought back with a century partnership to put Pakistan into a strong position. Once Hafeez fell though the momentum swung back India’s way. However, Pakistan had Malik at the crease who was able to guide Pakistan to an extremely tense victory.

Pakistan won by 5 wickets

Toss: Pakistan win the toss and decide to bowl first

Teams:

Pakistan:
Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan

India:
G Gambhir, AM Rahane, V Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, SK Raina, RG Sharma, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, B Kumar, I Sharma, AB Dinda

India Innings:

After five years of waiting and many months of hype, the cricket finally took centre stage as the captains strode out to the middle for the toss. Hafeez called correctly as Pakistan chose to bat first. Gambhir and Rahane opened the innings for India as Mohammad Irfan took the new ball. Irfan fired in the first ball at 90.4 mph – let the games begin.

After a brilliant first over of express pace by Mohammad Irfan in which the Indian batsman scrapped six runs, Sohail Tanvir looked to share the new ball. Tanvir supported Irfan very well with a tight over only giving away three runs. The first sign of aggression from both teams came after the first ball of the third over when Irfan fired a ball past Gambhir’s outside edge as the bowler and batsmen had a stare down. Meanwhile Rahane continued to struggle to cope with the express pace being generated by the seven foot tall bowler.

Rahane finally broke the shackles and released the pressure being applied by the Pakistani opening bowlers on the final ball of the third over as he put away a short ball outside the off stump by Irfan for four. India looked to gather momentum after the first boundary of the innings as Tanvirs second over went for nine runs – including another boundary from Rahane.

The confidence of Rahane was visibly growing as in Irfans third over, the batsmen felt comfortable enough to step back and carve a ball over extra cover for four. The Pakistani team, however, showed they were also up for the challenge with a brilliant diving stop by Ahmed Shezad on the fence to prevent a boundary. 

Tanvir concluded the power play with another tight over with only three runs coming in it as India finished the 6 overs on 37/0.

As the power play concluded Gul came into the attack and got welcomed by a boundary on his first ball by Rahane. The first six of the innings came later on in the same over as Gambhir dispatched Gul over the boundary to conclude a 13 run over prompting Hafeez to bring on the number 1 ranked bowler in the world – Saeed Ajmal.

After a tight start by Ajmal, Rahane continued to show his confidence growing as he played an extravagant extra cover drive for a massive six off of Ajmal’s fourth ball and taking eight runs from Ajmal's first over. With a poor first over by Gul, Hafeez bought in Shahid Afridi to bowl the 9th over of the innings. Afridi’s over, however, didn’t go much better than Gul and Ajmal's first as the Indian team picked up ten from the over firmly putting the pressure on Pakistan.

The pressure continued to mount as Ajmal was dispatched for a boundary on the first ball of the tenth over as India picked seven runs from the over. India concluded the tenth over on 75/0 as Pakistan desperately looked for a wicket from somewhere. 

Afridi finally struck as he claimed the much-needed wicket of Rahane on 42 as the batsmen chipped a slightly slower delivery right down the throat of the fielder in deep extra cover – Umar Akmal. The wicket bought Kohli to the middle at number three as the Pakistani skipper, Mohammad Hafeez, bought on himself to bowl the 12th over of the innings. The pressure the wicket had put on the Indian side was obvious as Hafeez’s over only went for five singles to pull things back for Pakistan.

Pakistan claimed their second wicket in the 13th over as a sharp throw from the deep by Sohail Tanvir caught Gambhir short of his crease on 43 as India moved onto 90/2. The pressure was straight away transferred as Yuvraj Singh strode to the middle and dispatched the first ball he faced for a 91 metre-long slog sweep for six. On the final ball of the over, however, a light-hearted moment was shared between Yuvraj and Afridi as they shared a smile – a relieving moment to see the sportsmanship between the teams.

India reached their hundred in the 14th over which was bowled by Hafeez in which seven runs were given away. The Pakistani skipper bought back Mohammad Irfan into the attack to tackle Kohli as the batsmen played and missed the first two balls of the over. On the third ball Irfan struck as Kohli look to pull away the big man only to find the toe-end of the bat as Kamran Akmal claimed the catch behind the stumps as India moved onto 103/3. Irfan concluded a fantastic spell of express pace bowling with figures of 25/1 claiming the crucial wicket of Kholi.

Ajmal came back into the attack to bowl the 16th over and struck with his first delivery as he removed the Indian skipper – Dhoni – with a soft dismissal to bring back Pakistan into the game, leaving India on 108/4. Raina released some of the pressure being applied by the Pakistani bowling by cutting the final ball of Ajmals over away for four. Umar Gul, however, came back into the attack to claim the important wicket of Yuvraj Singh with his second delivery as Yuvi – like Rahane – struck the ball straight down Umar Akmal's throat in the deep.

The remaining overs of the innings was bowled very well by Gul, only conceding six runs leaving India on 121/5 after the 17th over. The pressure continued to mount on India as Ajmal claimed his second wicket by bowling Raina with the third ball of his final over. The fielding supported the bowling as in the same over a direct hit from Malik claimed the wicket of Sharma. Ajmal concluded his spell with figures of 25/2.

Gul came back into the attack to bowl the 19th over. Gul was on absolute fire, bowling a short ball and getting the outside edge of Jadeja which was snapped up by Kamran Akmal behind the stumps. On the very next ball we saw the Umar Gul of old, with a toe crushing yorker to Ishant Sharma which castled the batsmen leaving India 124/9. Gul attempted another yorker on his hat trick delivery which was dug out successfully by Dinda. Gul concluded his spell with phenomenal figures of 21/3.

Sohail Tanvir came back on to bowl the final over of the innings. The Indian batsmen managed to scrape seven runs to leave India on 133/9, giving Pakistan a target of 134 in 20 overs. After a flying start from the Indian openers the Pakistani team will be very happy with this fightback to restrict India to a relatively low score. It was a fantastic bowling effort in particular by Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Irfan.

Fall of Wickets:
77/1 Rahane, 10.5 Overs
90/2 Gambhir, 12.4 Overs
103/3 Kholi, 14.3 Overs
108/4 Dhoni, 15.1 Overs
115/5 Yuvraj, 16.2 Overs
122/6 Raina, 17.3 Overs
123/7 R Sharma, 17.4 Overs
124/8 Jadeja, 18.1 Overs
124/9 I Sharma, 18.2 Overs

Pakistan Innings:

Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shezad opened the batting for Pakistan, with the newcomer Kumar taking the new ball for India. Kumar bowled a tight first over, claiming the crucial wicket of Nasir Jamshed on the final ball of the over. It was a perfect ball to claim the wicket of Jamshed, pitching and moving in through the gap between bat and pad and clipping back the top of off stump. At the end of the first over Pakistan were 2/1 with India right back into the game. Dinda shared the new ball with Kumar

The first boundary of the Pakistani innings came off the bat of Shehzad with an elegant cover drive through the gap on the off side for four. The Pakistani skipper got on into the act with a delicate and perfectly timed touch through the covers for four off the final ball of the second over. The momentum, however, again was punched out of the Pakistani innings as Kumar struck on the second ball of his second over and Shezhad was caught behind. The pressure was firmly back on to the Pakistani batsmen Umar Akmal & Mohammad Hafeez.

Kumar’s phenomenal spell continued as he dismissed Umar Akmal with an unplayable in swinging delivery on the final ball of the third over pegging back the middle stump. Pakistan found themselves under immense pressure as Shoaib Malik came to join Captain Hafeez in the middle. Hafeez looked to soak up the pressure as he punched a short ball by Dinda through the leg side for a much needed boundary. 

Kumar continued his spell with another great third over in which he only conceded three runs. Ishant Sharma was introduced into the attack by Dhoni to bowl the 6th over. The experienced pair of Hafeez and Malik looked to soak up as much of the pressure as possible and stabilize the innings by not taking any risks and preserving their wickets. Kumar came back on to complete his game-changing spell of 4 overs, 3 wickets for 8 runs leaving Pakistan on 25/3 at the end of the 7th over.

Under immense pressure with the required run rate going above 8, Sharma came on to bowl his second over in which he conceded 8 runs – including a streaky inside edge off the bat of Shoaib Malik which ran away for four. Dhoni looked to throw a curve ball by introducing Virat Kholi to bowl the 9th over. Despite the ball swinging for Kholi, the gamble did not seem to pay off with 8 runs coming off the over – this time with Malik striking a four with an excellent drive.

Yuvraj Singh was introduced to bowl the first spin over of the innings in the 10th over as Malik and Hafeez slowly but surely built up a partnership. Yuvraj bowled a tight first over with Pakistan in a tight spot on 45/3 half way through the innings, still needing 89 runs to win in 10 overs. Kohli came back into the attack to bowl the 11th over with Hafeez slog-sweeping the first ball of the over for a one-bounce four over cow corner. 

Hafeez and Malik continued to play sensibly, picking up runs where available whilst keeping the risks taken to a minimum. The Pakistani skipper again took the attack to Kohli sweeping him for another one-bounce four as the Pakistani batsmen looked to pick up the pace of the innings with a 13-run over. 

The first 6 of the innings came off the bat of Malik who put away a short ball by Yuvraj, bringing up a much-needed 50 partnership for Pakistan. Ten runs came of the 12th over as Pakistan moved onto 68/3. After an expensive second over from Kholi, Jadeja was bought into the attack who bowled a very tight 13th over only conceding four runs with a loud appeal for a catch down the leg side which was turned down by the umpire. 

Yuvraj Singh came back into the attack to bowl his third over and once again was dispatched into the stands for a 6 – this time by Hafeez – as Yuvi conceded 11 runs from the over and the game headed for a tense finish. Malik & Hafeez continued to take the attack to Jadeja in the 15th over as both batsmen danced down the wicket once each and dispatched the ball straight back over the bowlers head for big 6’s as the partnership continued to grow and Hafeez crossed his half century mark. 

With the part-timers not doing the job, Dhoni turned back to his fast men with Ishant bought back into the attack to bowl the 16th over. The batsmen, however, continued to attack as the Pakistani skipper pulled a short ball by Ishant over cow corner for a four and Malik then struck one over cover's head for another four. A tense moment did arise for the Pakistani batsmen in the over as Hafeez and Sharma got caught up in a tangle which almost resulted in a run out.

Dinda came into ball the 17th over as the experienced Pakistani batting pair brought up their 100-run partnership and Pakistan marched on towards the target. Luck started to go Pakistan’s way as well as a short ball got the top edge of Malik's bat and raced away for four over Dhoni's head. With three overs left Pakistan were now in charge needing 16 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand.

Inshant Sharma came into the attack to bowl the 18th over of the innings, claiming the much-needed wicket of Pakistani captain Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez, however, batted phenomenally for his 61 before guiding a short and wide ball down to Kumar. Kamran Akmal came out to the middle to join Malik and hopes to wrap up the match. The pressure was back on Pakistan as the next two balls went past the outside edge of Malik's bat through to Dhoni. There was a big “heart in mouth” moment for Pakistan as Malik top edged a short ball which was superbly caught by Jadeja. However, when referred to the third umpire the ball was deemed to be too high and was given a no ball.

You could see the tension mounting on both sides as Ishant Sharma and Kamran Akmal squared off in the middle of the pitch after the ball beat the inside edge of Kamran Akmal. With only two runs coming from the 17th over, the game was left in the balance with Pakistan still requiring 14 runs to win in the final 2 overs.

Dinda came on to bowl the crucial 18th over as Pakistan looked to Malik to guide Pakistan home, as he passed his half-century in 47 balls with three 4’s and two 6’s. The pressure was crushing Pakistan as Kamran Akmal guided a full pitched wide ball down to Ishant Sharma who took a good low catch and bought Afridi to the crease with Pakistan still needing 11 runs in 7 balls. Malik faced the final ball of the 19th over and he scraped a single, leaving Pakistan 10 runs to get in the final over.

The first ball of the final over was played away for a single by Malik with Afridi picking up two runs off the second ball, leaving Pakistan needing 7 to win in 4 balls. The third ball hit Afridi’s inside edge for a single leaving Pakistan 6 runs to get in the last 3 balls. Malik stepped up to the crease and delivered exactly what Pakistan required. Malik got down on one knee and swiped the ball high in the air straight back over the bowlers head for a 6 handing Pakistan a phenomenal victory!

It was a brilliant knock by Shoaib Malik who remained unbeaten on 57. It was the partnership between Malik & Hafeez which guided Pakistan to this heart racing victory.

Fall of Wicket:
2/1 Jamshed, 0.6 Overs
11/2 Shezhad, 2.2 Overs
12/3 U Akmal, 2.6 Overs
118/4 Hafeez, 17.1 Overs
123/5, K Akmal, 18.5 Overs

Summary

There were high hopes from this game and it did not disappoint. The game swung back and forth till the very end. India got off to a great start with a fantastic opening partnership. However, once the wickets started to fall Pakistan did very well to restrict India to 133. The Indian bowling then get off to a fantastic start thanks to Kumar. The Pakistani skipper – Mohammad Hafeez - and Malik however fought back with a century partnership to put Pakistan into a strong position. Once Hafeez fell though the momentum swung back India’s way. However, Pakistan had Malik at the crease who was able to guide Pakistan to an extremely tense victory.