Tendulkar guides India to clinch the series

Nov 16: Tendulkar's 90-jinx continues as India wraps up the series 3-1 against Pakistan after 24 years

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's scintillating 97 of just 102 balls set the tone for India to score a comfortable six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth ODI, eventually sealing the Indian Oil series with a convincing 3-1 lead over the visitors after a gap of 24 years at home, at the Roop Singh Stadium here on Thursday.

India romped home comfortably by scoring 260 in 46.3 overs before restricting Pakistan to 255 in the stipulated overs. The series has already been decided with one match to go. The fifth and final ODI match will be played in Jaipur on Sunday.

The series win is only the second by India against Pakistan at home, comes after a gap of 24 years. India had won the two match series 2-0 way back in 1983-84. It was also sweet revenge for the hosts, as they lost the last home series to the visitors in 2005.

The fifth ODI is inconsequential as far as the results are concerned but Pakistan will play for his pride while India would try to keep the momentum prior to an important three match Test-series starting from November 22 in Delhi.

Earlier after winning toss Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik erroneously reviewed the conditions and plump for batting; this termed as a blessing in disguise for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as they restricted Pak in a moderate total of 255 to chase.

At one point in the 33 rd over, Pakistan were 134 for four including a second wicket stand of 78 between Shoaib Malik (31) and Younis Khan (68). Younis’s 89 ball innings came to an end when Yuvraj Singh surprised Khan with an easy return catch.

The highlight of Pakistan’s innings was the 5 th wicket partnership between Mohammad Yousuf and Misbah-ul-Haq; they both produced 91 in just 90 balls. Yousuf batted like a true professional showing his par skills and remain unbeaten at 99 guiding Pak to a modest total.

Among Indian bowlers Zaheer Khan was the most successful with two wickets in his 10-over spell conceding 40 runs. He also achieved a milestone of 200 wickets of his career by taking the wickets of Malik and Sohail Tanvir. RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly added one wicket each in their kit.

India in response lost two early wickets as both Ganguly (5) and Gambhir (3) lost their wickets easily. However, it was the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who occupied the centre-stage with his yet another innings of class and elegance 97 but failed to come victorious against the 90-jinx. Sachin and Sehwag run a good partnership of 107 run for the 3 rd wicket to set the stage for victory. Sehwag’s 43 run came in just 49 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six in the fence.

Sachin again missed another century falling in the 90s and it was Umar Gul for the second time as he thumped the master’s off stump. However, the best clinchers Yuvraj (53) and Dhoni (45) cross the victory margin with an unbeaten 101 run partnership.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan: Salman Butt lbw b Rudra Pratap 0, Shoaib Malik b Zaheer 31, Younis Khan c and b Yuvraj 68, Mohammad Yousuf (not out) 99, Shahid Afridi lbw b Ganguly 1, Misbah-ul-Haq b Pathan 40, Sohail Tanvir lbw b Zaheer 6, Kamran Akmal (not out) 2, Extras (lb-6, w-2): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 50 overs) 255.

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Butt), 2-78 (Malik), 3-129 (Younis), 4-134 (Afridi), 5-228 (Misbah), 6-243 (Tanvir).

India bowling: R.P. Singh 10-1-53-1, Pathan 10-1-52-1, Zaheer 10-0-40-2, Harbhajan 10-0-52-0, Yuvraj 3-0-12-1, Sehwag 2-0-11-0, Ganguly 5-0-29-1.

India: S. Ganguly c Younis b Akhtar 5, S. Tendulkar b Gul 97, G. Gambhir c Tanvir b Iftikhar 3, V. Sehwag (run out) 43, Yuvraj Singh (not out) 53, M.S. Dhoni (not out) 45, Extras (lb-8, w-6): 14; Total (for four wkts. in 46.3 overs) 260.

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Ganguly), 2-48 (Gambhir), 3-155 (Sehwag), 4-159 (Tendulkar).

India bowling: Akhtar 10-0-49-1, Tanvir 7-1-43-0, Gul 8-0-42-1, Iftikhar 10-0-35-1, Afridi 10-0-67-0, Butt 1.3-0-16-0.