Pakistan win series after falling in the last ODI

Not since the winter of 1983, when Clive Lloyd’s West Indies avenged their loss in the World Cup final, had India been whitewashed in an ODI series at home. Following their third poor batting performance against Pakistan, India were hurtling towards a 0-3 score line in the cold of Delhi, until their bowlers rallied in conditions that offered seam and spin, applying relentless pressure until Misbah-ul-Haq’s team cracked in the dead rubber.
As Yuvraj Singh, pursued by team-mates, went off on a celebratory run and slide after catching Mohammad Hafeez in the penultimate over to secure a hard-fought victory, the exuberant celebrations on the field and in the stands at the Kotla were a release of emotion from a country that has had precious little to celebrate in recent times. India’s batting failed again, having few answers against a strong bowling attack that’s delivered two victories on the trot for Pakistan this series and has given the team an excellent chance of completing a clean sweep in Delhi. India chose to bat on a chilly morning on a dry surface with limited assistance for the Pakistan seamers, who made the most of what was on offer to rattle India’s top order for the third time this series. Saeed Ajmal then took over to pick up five wickets, including a double-strike in two balls that halted an attempted recovery and even MS Dhoni, India’s best batsman in these three games, couldn’t rescue the hosts.
India left out Virender Sehwag to give Ajinkya Rahane a chance at the top of the order and he began patiently, together with Gautam Gambhir, against a bit of movement off the pitch, though without any swing in the air. Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan stuck to areas around a good length, or slightly short, and were largely accurate, though Irfan conceded a couple of boundaries in an over where he erred down the leg side and provided too much width.
There were a fair share of plays and misses before Rahane finally nicked Irfan to the keeper, tempted to push at a full delivery that was going across. Gautam Gambhir found run-scoring difficult and eventually threw it away against a wide delivery from Irfan that he guided straight to point. Junaid, who bowled an opening spell of seven overs for just 12, got one to nip across Kohli, who edged to second slip while closing the face – Younis Khan took an excellent low catch. Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina saw off the remainder of what was a 14-over spell from Irfan and Junaid, and got an opening when Umar Gul was brought on. Yuvraj punched him through covers, and then flat-batted him over his head for consecutive fours, before Raina pulled him past square leg in an over that fetched 18. But just as he began to show promise, Yuvraj was undone by a superb delivery from Mohammad Hafeez in his first over; it gripped, turned and knocked the off stump after squaring up Yuvraj. Raina continued to search for opportunities, lofting Hafeez for six over long-on and lofting Gul over extra cover, and Dhoni showed intent against the offspinner, launching him for three sixes, each in a different area on the leg side. The duo looked for release against Hafeez while Ajmal had kept one end tight, and it wasn’t long before he struck. He trapped Raina with a straighter one to end a 48-run alliance with Dhoni, and caught R Ashwin – promoted ahead of Ravindra Jadeja – plumb next ball with a quicker delivery that spun in.
India suffered their biggest blow during the batting Powerplay when Dhoni, who had begun that five-over phase with a boundary past fine leg, cut Gul straight to point – his first dismissal in an ODI at home since March 2011.
Scoreboard
INDIA
G Gambhir c Umar Akmal b Mohammad Irfan 15
AM Rahane c †Kamran Akmal b Mohammad Irfan 4
V Kohli c Younis Khan b Junaid Khan 7
Yuvraj Singh b Mohammad Hafeez 23
SK Rainan lbw b Saeed Ajmal 31
MS Dhoni*† c Umar Akmal b Umar Gul 36
R Ashwin lbw b Saeed Ajmal 0
RA Jadeja c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 27
B Kumar lbw b Saeed Ajmal 2
I Sharma c & b Saeed Ajmal 5
Shami Ahmed not out 0
EXTRAS (lb 4, w 7, nb 1, pen 5) 17
TOTAL 167
FALL OF WICKETS 1-19 (Rahane, 4.3 ov), 2-29 (Gambhir, 8.4 ov), 3-37 (Kohli, 9.3 ov), 4-63 (Yuvraj Singh, 15.5 ov), 5-111 (Raina, 28.4 ov), 6-111 (Ashwin, 28.5 ov), 7-131 (Dhoni, 34.4 ov), 8-141 (Kumar, 37.5 ov), 9-160 (Sharma, 41.6 ov), 10-167 (Jadeja, 43.4 ov)
BOWLING
Mohammad Irfan 7-1-28-2, Junaid Khan 9-1-17-1, Umar Gul 8-1-45-1, Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-44-1, Saeed Ajmal 9.4-1-24-5
PAKISTAN
Nasir Jamshed lbw b Ashwin 34
Kamran Akmal† lbw b Kumar 0
Younis Khan b Kumar 6
Misbah-ul-Haq* c Rahane b Ashwin 39
Umar Akmal st †Dhoni b Jadeja 25
Shoaib Malik lbw b Sharma 5
Mohammad Hafeez c Yuvraj Singh b Sharma 21
Umar Gul c Jadeja b Sharma 11
Saeed Ajmal c †Dhoni b Shami Ahmed 1
Junaid Khan run out (Raina) 0
Mohammad Irfan not out 0
EXTRAS (lb 1, w 13, nb 1) 15
TOTAL 157
FALL OF WICKETS 1-3 (Kamran Akmal, 2.1 ov), 2-14 (Younis Khan, 6.5 ov), 3-61 (Nasir Jamshed, 20.3 ov), 4-113 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 34.1 ov), 5-119 (Shoaib Malik, 36.3 ov), 6-125 (Umar Akmal, 39.2 ov), 7-144 (Umar Gul, 46.2 ov), 8-145 (Saeed Ajmal, 47.2 ov), 9-145 (Junaid Khan, 47.3 ov), 10-157 (Mohammad Hafeez, 48.5 ov)
BOWLING
B Kumar 10-2-31-2Shami Ahmed 9-4-23-1, I Sharma 9.5-0-36-3, R Ashwin 10-1-47-2, RA Jadeja 10-2-19-1
Toss India, who chose to bat
Series Pakistan won the 3-match series 2-1
ODI debut Shami Ahmed (India)
Player of the match MS Dhoni (India)
Player of the series Nasir Jamshed (Pakistan), Umpires S Asnani and BF Bowden (New Zealand), TV umpire VA Kulkarni, Match referee RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka), Reserve umpire AK Chowdhury.