Rain stays away from a great Ind-Pak clash

The rain was giving the creeps to the fans here in Chennai as they weren’t sure of the game taking place. Almost every cricket fan had lost hope for a match to take place when it was pouring down on Saturday evening in the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. The outfield was wet and the pitch was covered fully yesterday. It has always been that way in Chennai. Rain has threatened the matches on quite a few occasions here. The crowds came in large numbers and it was almost a packed house the moment they announced the start time of the game. There it was, the much awaited game was about to start.

Pakistan won the toss and put India to bat first, expecting the rain to show up and D/L to play a part in the match. All thanks to the rain gods, the game had 50 overs in both innings. The overcast conditions here in the stadium made things difficult for the Indians and they were in a real spot of bother with the score at 29-5. The pace bowling of Pakistan was top notch. The pitch looked lively and the overcast conditions helped the swing bowlers. Junaid Khan and Mohammed Irfan rattled the top order and all the 4 top order batsmen were out “bowled”. That showed their lack of technique. The players were pushing the ball around and they didn’t get a firm stand at all until captain MSD came to the crease. He had a good partnership with Suresh Raina and took India to a total of 102. Hafeez bowled Raina out and India again were in a spot of bother. The projected score at that point was very less and things looked really difficult for Dhoni and co.

Ashwin came to support MSD with a big partnership of 125 runs that took India to a decent total of 227. India had the momentum going their way with Dhoni leading the way with an inspirational innings.

After the break, the young (debutant in ODI format) Bhuvaneshwar Kumar looked threatening. He dismissed Hafeez on the first ball of the innings and removed Azhar Ali as Pakistan were left facing a similar collapse as India at 21-2. A couple of appeals against Jamshed and Younus off Ashwin’s bowling were turned down by the umpires. We can say Jamshed was lucky because the umpire didn’t spot the inside edge on to the pad and a good catch by Sehwag was wasted. Things weren’t going their way and Jamshed held on to one end and reached to a well deserved 100. Malik and Jamshed saw the game through, even though Malik should have been out if it weren’t a no-ball from Ashwin.

After the third umpire indicated the on-field umpire for the no-ball, Malik was called back. There was so much drama in those 5 minutes. I would like to see a situation when the third umpire intervenes a “not out” decision given by the on field umpire and gives it out. It can be good to think about it but that’s against the spirit of the game, I guess.

There was one concern in the Indian camp when Virat injured his right knee when he slipped during his bowling action. He was in a lot of pain. Stretchers were brought in, yet he walked back. Hope he gets fit for the next game at Kolkata.

Well that’s it. Pakistan got the victory and lead the series 1-0.

There were some smiles for the Indian fans as MSD was awarded the Man of the Match for his brilliant 113 n.o.

Adios!