5 epic India vs Pakistan encounters in the Asia Cup 

#4 Asia Cup 2008, Super Fours match, Karachi

Just six days after their previous meeting, the South-Asian foes were once again pitted against each other at the same venue i.e. National Stadium in Karachi. India were pretty confident after getting the better of their opponents last time and having beaten Bangladesh in their first Super Fours game.

Pakistan, on the other hand, needed a win to survive and keep themselves in the Asia Cup 2008. In the first innings, it was a gritty batting display by the Indian batsmen out of whom MS Dhoni was the pick. He top scored with 76 out of 96 balls and his partnership with Rohit Sharma (58 off 71) helped India get to 308 amidst regular strikes by the Pakistan bowlers who were successful in preventing any imminent damage by the likes of Sehwag and Yuvraj who got off to decent starts.

Misbah-ul-Haq was captaining Pakistan for the first time in this match and showed all signs of why he would become a respectable skipper of the side in future. He used 5 bowlers including debutante Saeed Ajmal and rotated them with a keen intent to break partnerships and hamper the flow of runs.

Abdur Rauf and Rao Iftikhar were able to fetch wickets when needed and despite MS Dhoni looking good at the crease, the Pakistan attack prevented the flurry of runs that cropped up the last time these teams met. Pakistan started their innings with the openers Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed treating the Indian pacers with no mercy and smashing boundaries of any deliveries that were loose or wayward.

Jamshed had to walk off the field after a muscle cramp and Salman Butt ran himself out in rash manner, but the stage was taken over by Younis Khan who played a match winning innings of 123. The Pakistani batting great proved to a thorn in the flesh of the Indian bowlers and his controlled batting display did not let the spinners get any easy giveaways. He remained not out and was ably assisted by captain Misbah who scored a scintillating 70 to chase the target in a span of 45.3 overs.

The crowd was triumphant as they were treated to an exquisite display by the home team over their arch rivals and it also opened up the race to the final in a tournament that was producing less than exciting encounters until then. Even though none of the two teams went on to win the tournament, they were hugely successful in adding one to the list of the clashes termed as the 'Mother of all battles'.

Result: Pakistan won by 8 wickets.

India 308/7 in 50 overs, Pakistan 309/2 in 45.3 overs.

Man of the Match: Younis Khan (123 runs off 117 balls; 4's- 11, 6's- 1)