India made no changes to their playing eleven.
On winning the toss, Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s skipper,
inserted the Indians.
India’s openers didn’t get off the mark. Gautam
Gambhir, who faced three balls, didn’t open his account. Three balls into the
match, he was caught by Mohammad Asif, the player of the match, off his own bowling.
Virender Sehwag, whose three-ball innings included a
boundary, scored five. Ten balls later, Asif broke the nine-ball stand.
Yuvraj Singh, who faced four balls, scored a run. A
dozen balls later, he was caught by Malik. Asif broke the 10-run stand.
Dinesh Karthik, whose nine-ball innings included a
couple of boundaries, scored 11. Fifteen balls later, Asif broke the 17-run
stand.
India scored 50 off 9.2 overs (58 balls). Pakistan had
conceded four extras at that point.
Sixty-three balls into the match, there was an
interruption due to rain. India had scored 68 for the loss of four wickets at
that point. While Robin Uthappa was batting on 38, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s
skipper, had scored eight.
A dozen overs into the match, there was an
interruption due to rain. India had scored 82 for the loss of four wickets at
that point. While Uthappa had scored 50, Dhoni was unbea‘ten’.
Uthappa’s half-century – which included four
boundaries and a couple of sixes – came off 38 balls. He faced 39 balls,
failing to add to the aforementioned score. Thirty-three balls after Karthik’s
dismissal, he was caught by Kamran Akmal. Twenty20 International debutant
Sohail Tanvir broke the 46-run stand.
India scored 100 off 15.4 overs (97 balls). Pakistan
had conceded five extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of
extras they eventually conceded.
Irfan Pathan, whose 15-ball innings included a couple
of boundaries, scored 20. Twenty-three balls after Uthappa’s dismissal, Shahid
Afridi broke the 29-run stand.
Seventeen overs into the match, there was an
interruption due to rain. India had scored 123 for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets
at that point. While Dhoni was batting on 30, Harbhajan Singh had scored a run.
Harbhajan, who faced four balls, (Afri)didn’t add to
the aforementioned score. The all-rounder had a reason to be in seventh heaven –
he broke the 12-run stand.
Dhoni, whose 31-ball innings included three boundaries
and a six, eventually scored 33. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Younis
Khan. Yasir Arafat broke the 15-run stand.
The ninth-wicket pair put on three. Ajit Agarkar, whose
nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 14. Five balls later,
Akmal ran him out.
Sreesanth, who faced three balls, scored a run. He was
unbeaten.
India scored 141 for the loss of nine wickets off 20
overs.
Each of the bowlers bowled four overs apiece. Umar
Gul, who conceded 27, was wicketless. Arafat and Tanvir picked up a wicket apiece.
While the former conceded 39, the latter conceded 18. Afridi, who conceded 37,
picked up a couple of wickets. Asif, who conceded 18, picked up four scalps.
Although his eight-run innings included a boundary, Imran
Nazir had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 13 balls into the chase, Rudra Pratap
Singh broke the 12-run stand.
Salman Butt, whose 25-ball innings included a couple
of boundaries, scored 17. Thirty-one balls later, he was caught by Dhoni.
Agarkar broke the 32-run stand.
The third-wicket pair put on three. Akmal, whose
13-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 15. Five balls later, Yuvraj
ran him out.
Khan, who faced eight balls, scored just a couple.
Four dot balls later, he was dismissed by Pathan.
Pakistan scored 50 off 9.1 overs (60 balls). The
number of extras they had conceded at that point gave India no reason to be in
seventh heaven.
Malik, whose 18-ball innings included three
boundaries, scored 20. Thirty-seven balls after Khan’s dismissal, he was caught
by Harbhajan. Pathan broke the 40-run stand.
Pakistan scored 100 off 16.5 overs (107 balls). India
had conceded eight extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of
extras they eventually conceded.
Afridi, who faced nine balls, scored seven. Sixteen
balls later, he was caught by Karthik. Harbhajan broke the run-a-ball stand.
The seventh-wicket pair put on 38. Misbah-ul-Haq,
whose 35-ball innings included seven boundaries and a six, scored 53. Fourteen
balls later, Agarkar and Sreesanth ran him out.
Arafat, whose five-ball innings included a couple of boundaries,
scored a dozen. He was unbeaten.
Pakistan scored 141 for the loss of seven overs off 20
overs.
Each of the bowlers bowled four overs apiece.
Sreesanth, who conceded 29, was wicketless. Agarkar, Harbhajan and R P picked
up a wicket apiece. They scored 35, 32 and 29, respectively. Pathan, whose
spell included a maiden. He conceded 20, picking up a couple of scalps.
The match ended in a tie.
It was decided by a bowl-out.
In the first round, Sehwag hit the stumps, and Arafat
missed.
In the second round, Harbhajan hit, and Gul missed.
In the third round, Uthappa hit, and Afridi missed.
India won the bowl-out 3-0.
Both India and Pakistan advanced to the Super Eights.
