India v/s Pakistan : India won the first ODI against Pakistan

November 5, 2007

India 242 for 5 (Dhoni 63, Yuvraj 58) beat Pakistan 239 for 7 (Yousuf 83*, Butt 50) India won by 5 wickets

The Indian team won the first ODI against Pakistan . It was a good team effort by India, spearheaded by the cracking knocks of the skipper MS Dhoni and his deputy, Yuvraj Singh.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik won the toss and Yousuf showed his class to hold the innings together after the Indian spinners had taken control on a slow pitch.

The 33-year-old Yousuf hit his 58th one-day fifty, his sixth score of over 50 in the last nine innings, facing 88 balls and hitting seven fours.

Yousuf added 63 runs for the fourth wicket with Shahid Afridi (31) before taking charge in a sixth-wicket stand of 68 with Misbah-ul Haq (27).

Braving a hostile Indian bowling attack, Mohammad Yousuf crossed 50 runs taking his team nearer to a respectable score as spinners from the home team maintained a tight line and length to keep the pressure on the opposition. Pakistan were at 205 runs from 46 overs for the loss of 5 wickets.

Sachin Tendulkar’s golden arm brought home the prized wicket of Shahid Afridi as he missed a cleverly disguised delivery by the little maestro completely. MS Dhoni promptly stumped him. This happened right before Tendulkar hit again, claming the wicket of skipper Shoiab Malik. Pakistan were at 165 runs in the 41st over.

Dangerman Younis Khan was the third casualty to some exceptional bowling by the ‘Turbunator’ Harbhajan Singh. He departed after scoring 25 runs at a slow pace. Indian camp’s happiness was evident as it was a crucial wicket for the team, improving their chances of restricting the visiting team to a low total. Pakistan were at 136 runs at the end of 35 overs for the loss of three wickets.

The lethal spinning duo of Harbhajan and Kartik bowled in tandem, tightening the scoring rate of the visiting team. With an array of Doosra’s, Harbhajan made sure that the new batsmen on the crease had to fight very hard to milk runs. Pakistan were at 93 runs for the loss of both the openers at the end of 26 overs.

Pathan drew first blood in the intense first match by getting Akmal plumb in front of the wicket with a swinging delivery, which the batsman could not read in time. The Pakistani scorecard read 44 runs for the loss of a wicket at the beginning of the eleventh over.

Some astounding shot making by Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh assured India as the top contenders for being the match winners. The total glided to 154 runs for the loss of 3 wickets from 30 overs with the pair adding up a total of 41 runs together. With an ensuing battle between the willow and cork, the first ODI gave cricket fans their money’s worth.

Prior to this, Shahid Afridi bowled a well-set Gambhir for 44, to bring Pakistan back into the match. The fall of Gambhir’s wicket came just as he & Dhoni were beginning to stabilise the innings after Ganguly’s dismissal. Yuvaj Singh joined MS Dhoni for the most crucial phase of the match.

The duo of Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir gave a good start to the Indian innings as they milked the bowling for 58 runs from the first 10 overs. Amidst an array of good shots, the pair made sure that the team recovered from the initial hiccup of Tendulkar’s departure.