Cricket
India square T20 series
2012-12-29 10:04
Yuvraj Singh (Gallo Images)
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Ahmedabad - Yuvraj Singh hit his highest T20 score of 72, before Ashok Dinda took
three wickets as India beat Pakistan by 11 runs in their second and
final Twenty20 international in Ahmedabad on Friday, squaring the
series.
Chasing a target of 193, Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad got Pakistan
off to a good start with a quick-fire 74 runs inside 10 overs.
However, they followed each other back to the pavilion in the space of
10 runs, before Umar Akmal (24) and captain Mohammad Hafeez endeavoured
to put their team back on track.
VIDEO: India v Pakistan, second T20
Ashok Dinda - having been taken for 24 runs in his first two overs -
returned with vigour and broke the partnership with 48 runs still
needed.
Mohammad Hafeez put up a spirited fight, blasting 55 off only 26 balls,
but he, too, fell to Dinda. The latter then collected the wicket of
Kamran Akmal four runs later and the chase was in disarray.
Needing 20 runs off the final over, the visitors could manage only eight, to the delight of a packed Sardar Patel Stadium.
Dinda finished with 3-36, a great comeback as his final two overs cost him only 12 runs for those three prized scalps.
Earlier, Yuvraj propelled India to 192 for five after they were invited to bat.
India's openers got the hosts off to a quick start, and reached 44 in
only the fifth over. Gambhir was first to go, followed by Rahane just
nine runs later.
Virat Kohli was joined by Yuvraj Singh who started his innings quite cautiously.
After a disastrous run-out of Kohli (28), who was looking good at the
time, Yuvraj and Mahendra Singh Dhoni came together and the pair added
97 runs in just over seven overs to turn what was looking like being a
good total, into a great one.
It was India's highest total against Pakistan in this format.
Yuvraj was in imperious form, and dismissed all bowlers with equal
disdain during his 36-ball innings of 72, which included four fours but
seven sixes.
The left-hander holed out in the final over, trying to push the score
past 200, hitting Umar Gul straight over his head, but the ball failed
to clear the boundary and found Shoaib Malik who ended the spectacle
with a well judged catch.
Dhoni departed three deliveries later for 33, giving Gul his fourth
wicket, the fast bowler conceding 37 runs off his four overs.
India had brought back Ravichandran Ashwin in favour of Ravindra Jadeja, playing four specialist bowlers.
Pakistan fielded an unchanged XI after their narrow win in the first match on Tuesday.