SCORECARD
Chennai: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s heroic unbeaten century
under pressure went in vain as arch rivals Pakistan held their nerve to
clinch the first one day international with a comfortable six-wicket
victory in a low-scoring contest here on Sunday.
India posted 227
for six after recovering from a precarious 29 for five one stage but
that turned out to be insufficient for the Pakistanis who rode on Nasir
Jamshed`s unbeaten century to overhaul the target with 11 balls to spare
and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Dhoni played a
captain`s knock with an unbeaten 113, his 8th ODI century, to script a
brilliant Indian recovery after left-arm pacer Junaid Khan (4/43)
exploited the overcast conditions to rip through the top-order and leave
the hosts gasping for breath within the first 10 overs.
The
Indian captain found an able ally in Suresh Raina (43) first and then
Ravichandran Ashwin (31 not out) to take the score beyond the 200-run
mark which looked doubtful at one stage following the top-order
collapse.
Dhoni and Ashwin put on a record seventh wicket
partnership of 121 runs but the Indian captain`s superlative knock off
125 balls lost much of its value as the Pakistani batsmen went about the
task of chasing down the target without taking too many risks.
Younis Khan (58) and Shoaib Malik (34 not out) were the other notable performers for Pakistan.
The
Pakistani innings started on a disastrous note as ODI debutant
Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a beauty to get rid of Mohammed Hafeez with
the very first delivery of the Pakistan innings.
The ball came back sharply after pitching as Hafeez didn`t offer a stroke only to find his off-stump knocked back.
The
youngster got rid of Azhar Ali a few overs later to reduce the visitors
to 21 for two. But the experienced Younis Khan and Nashir steadied the
Pakistan innings with a solid 112-run third wicket partnership.
Both
Jamshed and Younis benefitted due to some horrendous decisions given by
the Indian umpire S Ravi. Jamshed was lucky to get a reprieve on 24
when an inside edge was caught by Virender Sehwag in first slip off
Ashwin but Ravi turned down the appeal.
Ravi also negated a plumb
leg before decision against Younis when the right-hander missed a
delivery from Ashwin in his bid to play the sweep shot.
Younis
returned to the pavilion when Ashwin latched on to a low catch off Ashok
Dinda, a decision which was referred to the TV umpire by on-field
umpire Billy Bowden. But by that time, the visitors were already in a
good position and just needed to bat sensibly to reach the target.
Jamshed,
who grew in confidence as the innings wore on, was dropped by Yuvraj
Singh when on 68 off Dinda much to the disappointment of a sizeable
holiday crowd at the Chepauk.
Just when Pakistan seemed to be
cruising along comfortably, Ishant Sharma enlivened the proceedings to
some extent by getting rid of captain Misbah-ul Haq (16) with a slower
ball which knocked down the off stump.
It was Malik, who hit the winning runs with a pull towards deep mid-wicket boundary off the first ball of the penultimate over.
Earlier,
put into bat, India plunged into trouble straightaway with Gautam
Gambhir (8), Virender Sehwag (4), Virat Kohli (0), Yuvraj Singh (2) and
Rohit Sharma (4) returning to the pavilion in quick succession as Junaid
got the ball to swing under overcast conditions.
The Pakistani
pacers took advantage of the moisture on the track and troubled the
top-order batsmen with the new ball. Once the ball got a little older,
Dhoni and Raina applied themselves and started rebuilding the Indian
innings.
The two teams will now travel to Kolkata for the second
ODI to be held on January 3 while the third and final match will be
staged at the Ferozeshah stadium in New Delhi on January 6.
Pacer
Junaid had justified his captain Misbah-ul-Haq's decision to bowl first
in damp conditions with struggling opener Sehwag becoming Junaid's
first victim.
The Delhi batsman, considered a game-changer for
his ability to take the attack to the opposition, swung it Pakistan's
way after slogging for 11 balls to get four runs.
Sehwag was castled by a Junaid delivery that came in a shade after pitching.
The
big four of the Indian batting order were all bowled, three of them by
Junaid, who seemed unplayable getting the ball to move appreciably both
in the air and off the pitch.
The proverbial promising batsman of
the side, Rohit added another one to his growing list of failures,
becoming Junaid's fourth victim after scratching around for 14
deliveries for his four runs.
Rohit's last six ODI innings now
read a disappointing 4, 4, 4, 0, 0 and 5. In fact, the top five managed
to pull off just two fours for the team.
At 29/5 in a little less
than 10 overs, India were staring firmly down the barrel before Raina
and Dhoni came together to repair the innings slowly and steadily.
The duo cautiously added 73 runs for the sixth wicket and defied Pakistani bowlers for a good 23 overs.
Dhoni
got a life on 16 when in the 26th over rival skipper Misbah-ul Haq
dropped him at midwicket of Mohammed Hafeez's bowling and the Indian,
who smashed seven fours and three sixes, made it count.
Dhoni was suffering from dehydration and also battled cramps towards the end of India innings.
Meanwhile,
Raina's patient innings came to an end when he lost his leg stump to
Hafeez. But Dhoni was unfazed and, in fact, accelerated from that point,
reaching his fifty with a whip over midwicket boundary off Umar Gul.
For
a man not exactly known for solid technique, Dhoni was the lone Indian
batsman to smash spin ace Saeed Ajmal for a six. A new ball had to be
sought to replace the one which went out of the ground.
He also
brought up his hundred in style, hoicking Irfan over cover in the 49th
over, which produced 21 runs with Dhoni doing most of the scoring. For
Pakistan, Junaid was the most successful bowler, grabbing 4/43 in his
nine overs.
This was the first match played under the new ICC rules.
Under
these rules, one new ball was used at each end, bowlers were allowed
two bouncers an over, there was no batting Power Play, the bowling Power
Play was completed before the 40th over, and at no stage in the innings
more than four fielders were allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
