Pakistan vs India, 2007, 4th ODI

A one man show can only be done by a legend such as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who was at his deadliest best in yesterday’s day-night match. Winning the toss, Shoaib Malik decided to bat first knowing fully well that the dew would play an important factor in the second innings. RP Singh gave his team the perfect start by getting rid of Salman Butt for a duck and Pakistan never recovered from the 2nd ball of the innings. RP, Pathan and Zaheer were bang on target and barring the odd boundary kept things nice and tight. Pakistan never looked like a team desperate to win this match. Regardless, all credit must be given to the Indian bowlers who bowled admirably to keep the final score to less than 275. Pakistan managed to cross the 250 figure in the final over to reach 255 for the loss of 6 wickets.

With 256 runs required on a wicket that was going to be batsman friendly, the Indians had to ensure that they did not lose early wickets. Saurav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir did just the opposite. Ganguly edged Akhtar to second slip and Gambhir pulled Rao to square leg. Sachin on the other hand was quickly into his rhythm and when he gets into a mood like this there is no respite for the fielding team. The boundaries came at blistering pace and every single shot was a sight to watch. Middling the ball perfectly, the Little Master ripped the Pakistani bowling to pieces.

Joining him was Virender Sehwag, a man looking for redemption. Sehwag started slowly but once he got his timing correct he started smashing the bowlers. Only one man in cricket can match Sachin and that person is Sehwag. The two quickly put on a century partnership and had it not been for some stupid running between the wickets, Sehwag should have reached a 50, one that he deserved to get this time. Still, the signs were clear, he was back in form.

Sehwag’s departure saw Tendulkar in his 90’s. The dreaded 90’s. The way he was batting Sachin deserved a 130-140 score, however as destiny would have it, he inside-edged Umar Gul to his leg stump to depart at 97 leaving the crowd stunned and silent. The damage, however, had been done. The platform had been laid for ODI cricket’s best finishing pair and a finish they did provide. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh are now considered the best batting pair in ODI cricket as the two have now been part of all Indian wins in this series.

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