Thursday, January 3, 2013

Pakistan take series as India batting fails again

 

The Report by Abhishek Purohit
January 3, 2013
Pakistan 250 (Jamshed 106, Hafeez 76, Ishant 3-34, Jadeja 3-41) beat India 165 (Dhoni 54*, Ajmal 3-20, Junaid 3-39) by 85 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Nasir Jamshed celebrates a second successive ton in the series, India v Pakistan, 2nd ODI, Kolkata, January 3, 2013
Nasir Jamshed continued his golden run against India, scoring his third successive century © BCCI
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Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of India
Teams: India | Pakistan


They lost eight successive overseas Tests. They lost a home Test series. And now the ODI world champions have lost a home bilateral series for the first time in more than three years. They are in free fall, and continue to touch a newer nadir each time. The failure of the batsmen has been a common factor in all these reversals, and it was no different at Eden Gardens. Despite the bowlers taking ten wickets for 109 to keep Pakistan to 250, India crumbled without any fight, losing their top five batsmen before they had reached 100. The tail had collapsed before MS Dhoni could even think about improbables such as miracles.
Pakistan added to their record of being the only side, other than Australia, to inflict home ODI series defeats on India in the previous ten years. They also continued their impressive record at Eden Gardens, and have now won all their four ODIs against India at the ground. Nasir Jamshed, one of the finest young batsmen around, made his third successive ODI century against India, whose batsmen carried their struggles from Chennai to Kolkata.
Junaid Khan bowled his heart out in an opening spell of 7-1-18-2, taking out Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. Umar Gul came in to remove a subdued and edgy Virender Sehwag, and followed it up with the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh. Suresh Raina was peppered with short balls before falling to Mohammad Hafeez's offspin. India went from 42 for 0 to 95 for 5. Dhoni was left battling alone, and again, he battled till the very end, refusing several singles with the last man Ishant Sharma and hitting the odd boundary, despite knowing that all of it was in vain, despite knowing that he was the only man in this line-up prepared to fight.

Smart stats

  • In nine innings, Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed have added 760 runs for the first wicket with four century stands, Their average of 84.44 is the best for a Pakistan opening pair (min 750 runs added).
  • The 141-run stand between Hafeez and Jamshed is the seventh century opening partnership for Pakistan against India and the second by the pair against India.
  • The number of runs conceded by Saeed Ajmal (20) is the fourth-lowest by a Pakistan bowler in an innings against India (min ten overs bowled).
  • Jamshed scored his third century against India and his second in consecutive ODIs. Only four other Pakistan batsmen have scored more centuries against India.
  • Pakistan won their third bilateral ODI series (two or more matches) in India. Their last series win came in 2005 when they won 4-2. They have also won each of their four matches against India in Kolkata.
  • The 85-run victory margin is Pakistan's fifth-largest against India in ODIs in India. Only West Indies have beaten India in India by an 85-plus run margin more than once.
  • While the aggregate first-wicket stand for both teams in the game was 183, the aggregate for the remaining nine wickets was just 232. This is the second-lowest aggregate for the second to tenth wickets in India-Pakistan matches (all partnerships broken).
  • MS Dhoni's strike rate of 60.67 during his 54 is his lowest strike rate for a fifty-plus score in ODIs. His previous lowest was 65.90 during his 58 against Australia in Kochi in 2007.

Sehwag and Gambhir may have put on 42, but their partnership was full of plays-and-misses and inside edges eluding the stumps. And eight of those 42 runs came off two overthrows to the boundary, courtesy Hafeez.
The tall Mohammad Irfan continued to test India with his bounce, but Junaid's was the standout spell. Displaying superb control, Junaid beat the outside edge on numerous occasions, and also hit Sehwag on the pads a few times. It wasn't unusually good deliveries that got him his wickets, though it could be said he had persevered enough to earn some luck. Gambhir tried to drive a widish length ball, which moved in slightly for the batsman to play on. Kohli fell to an outstanding, leaping take by Kamran Akmal down the leg side.
There was nothing fortuitous about Sehwag's fall, Gul bending one back in sharply to strike the leaden-footed batsman in front of middle. The senior opener had had another poor outing, after averaging 21.70 in ODIs in 2012.
Yuvraj had a nervy stay as well, eventually edging an attempted pull off a Gul bouncer to the wicketkeeper. Raina had already been tested by the inevitable short balls, had escaped a run-out chance, and went stumped as he lunged to drive a Hafeez delivery.
The batsmen's meek capitulation meant the fightback from the bowlers, kickstarted by Ravindra Jadeja, was in vain. Pakistan had zoomed to 141 for 0 inside 24 overs before Jadeja, playing because Dhoni wanted an allrounder bowling instead of part-timers, broke the opening partnership by removing Hafeez, and later dismissed the centurion Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal within three deliveries. Pakistan sputtered on a slightly uneven pitch, which seemed to get somewhat difficult for batting as the balls got older.
It all started with an ungainly sweep from Hafeez, who till then, had timed the ball beautifully in his fourth century stand with Jamshed in nine ODI innings. Suddenly, all momentum seemed to drain from the innings. Ishant gave nothing away, bowling a tight line from the other end. And things began to work for India.
In Jadeja's next over, Azhar Ali trotted out of his crease even as the bowler was appealing for lbw. MS Dhoni was alert enough to reach the ball and lob it back before Azhar could return. In the 35th over, just before the batting Powerplay was to be taken, fortune, and the sweep, struck for India. Younis Khan inside-edged Suresh Raina on to his pad, and was given leg-before. Pakistan were still strongly placed at 177 for 3, but after Misbah-ul-Haq departed lbw to R Ashwin in the first over of the batting Powerplay, they took just 26 off it.
Jamshed, struggling to time the ball now, still kept going. Jadeja was not done yet, though. First ball on his return in the 42nd over, he had Jamshed stranded way down the pitch for Dhoni to complete the stumping on the second attempt. Two balls later, he spun one away from Kamran Akmal for the thick-edged drive to fly to slip, a position Dhoni stuck to even at that late stage. Pakistan had soon lost ten wickets for 109 in 24.4 overs, scarcely believable numbers after their start.
Overcast Kolkata skies and his batsmen's capitulation in swinging Chennai conditions had made Dhoni ask Pakistan to bat. To his dismay, the promised, prodigious swing didn't show up. Dhoni's bowlers still managed to restrict Pakistan, but his batsmen proved thoroughly unreliable, for the umpteenth occasion in recent times.

Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan won by 85 runs

Pakistan tour of India, 2nd ODI: India v Pakistan at Kolkata, Jan 3, 2013

Pakistan 250 (48.3 ov)
India 165 (48.0 ov)
Pakistan won by 85 runs

  • India RR 3.43
  • Last 5 ovs 26/1 RR 5.20
  • Required RR 43.00
  • Pakistan RR (5.15) 5.00
Refresh scorecard
Current time: 21:54 local, 16:24 GMTODI career
BatsmenRunsB4s6sSRThis bowlerLast 5 ovsMatRunsHSAve
MS Dhoni(rhb)54894160.6720 (10b)21 (21b)2137075183*52.40
BowlersOMRWEcon0s4s6sThis spellMatWktsBBIEcon
*Junaid Khan(lmf)9.013934.3339512-0-21-115244/124.98
Umar Gul(rfm)7.002423.4227002-0-5-01131606/425.07
Recent overs . . . . 1wd 2 . | 6 . . . 1 . | . . 1wd . . 1 . | 4 . 4 1wd 4 1 W
Last BatI Sharma b Junaid Khan 2 (35m 12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 16.66
Fall of wicket: 165/10 (47.6 ov); Partnership: 33 runs, 8.0 overs, RR: 4.12 (Dhoni 28, Sharma 2)
End of over 48 (14 runs)India 165/10 (86 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 3.43, RRR: 43.00)
Junaid Khan9-1-39-3
MS Dhoni54* (89b 4x4 1x6)Umar Gul7-0-24-2
Pakistan are deserved victors, with their top-class bowling unit outplaying India. Saeed Ajmal has been one of the top bowlers in all formats for several years now, Junaid Khan shows he is one of the most promising young quick bowlers in the world and Nasir Jamshed is providing the solidity Pakistan need at the top of the order.
Even the usually poker-faced Dav Whatmore is overjoyed at the victory, gets a hug from Misbah before he sets off to shake hands with the rest of the Pakistan team.
Mohammad Hafeez: "A great performance from Junaid. we are really happy with the effort of the whole team, especially the bowlers. Great feeling to win a series in India. Thanks to the crowd as well, they were supportive till the end."
Mustafa Jamal: "Fireworks has started here in Pakistan. Such a great victory for Pakistan Cricket...."
Jyoti: "Heartbreaking to see Ishant saying "sorry" to Dhoni in the end."

Presentation ceremony:

Dhoni: "I think the bowlers brought us back in the game, I think when we went in to bat, we lost too many wickets, last 30 overs we needed 180, the key is to have wickets in hand and we never were in a position. Virat has scored runs for us, but one of the top three needs to be with the middle-order, that will make it easy, not that they aren't trying, it happens. We have got the experience in the batting, it is about them coming back to form, overall we have to grow as a team, we are a good fielding side, but we have to bowl well and develop."
Misbah: "I think the team really played well, specially the way openers started, they gavea really, really good start and then the bowlers did the job. I think the way the wicket was playing, I think 300 was on the card the way the openers were playing, otherewise it was not a wicket that was not so easy to score on. I think the bowlers are really doing a great job, especially Junaid who is moving it both ways and asking questions of the batsmen, Irfan has his height, Gul also bowled well today, and Ajmal and Hafeez always delivers for us. Fantastic crowd, I enjoy playing here, it's something you don't have in any other ground in the world."
Nasir Jamshed is the Man of the Match: "I just enjoy my batting, last time I missed the Man of the Match but lucky this time they gave it to me. I just kept a cool mind, and Hafeez played a great innings. Pitch was little bit slow, and I just played according to the ball. It was dream to play in the ground."
Here's Abhishek Purohit's match report of a thoroughly deserved win for Pakistan. The third ODI in Delhi is now a dead rubber. Perhaps the teams will experiment with their XIs there.
If you haven't had your fix of cricket for the day yet, follow the South Africa v New Zealand Tests here. Thanks for all the mails today. Cheers!