Related Links : Pakistan’s Tour of India : Scorecard
Pakistanis hardly faced any challenge against a soft Delhi bowling attack as they cruised past a moderate target of 214 with utmost ease. At the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, the Pakistani top order found some useful hit in the middle with Salman Butt stroking his way to 83 before giving opportunities to others. Pakistanis completed an impressive 7-wicket win with 7.2 overs to spare to announce their landing on Indian soil.
Shoaib Malik won a good toss which enabled his fast bowlers to take advantage of early moisture content in the wicket which made life tough for the Delhi batsmen. Virender Sehwag decided to skip the game as its just two days gone by since the demise of his father. Gautam Gambhir led the Delhi team and the Captain was lbw very early after being set up in the crease cleverly by Umar Gul. Delhi could somehow get a stubborn partnership going between Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan but a surprise bowling change from Malik in bringing on Younis Khan pegged them back. Bowling his medium pacers, Younis picked up two wickets in two balls to send back Chopra (lbw after making 16 in 42) and Mithun Manhas, cleaned up by an inswinger. Delhi soon slipped to 46 for 4 with young Virat Kohli getting himself run out.
Fortunately enough for the large crowd that had turned out, Delhi could recover to put on 213 for 9. The Delhi Cricket Association was kind enough to make it a free entry for fans for this match who came in thousands to watch their stars. Former India U-19 opener Shikhar Dhawan got himself 52 from 80 with 3 fours and a six off a free hit coming in from Shoaib Akhtar. The innings that made a match for the day was from all rounder Rajat Bhatia, who ended up with a good 75 from 107 with 7 fours and a six. The Pakistani bowling and fielding was quite impressive. Shoaib looked slightly out of rhythm, not really running in hard but he did bowl his 10 full overs. Sohail Tanvir was perhaps the best bowler on show as he went past the bat on several occasions in his 10 overs that didn’t produce a wicket.
Pakistanis did lose Kamran Akmal in the first over itself but that was soon forgotten with the strokeplay from Imran Nazir and Salman Butt. The Delhi bowling attack lacked the pace with both Kunal Lal and Amit Bhandari hardly touching the 120kmph mark! Bhandari, however was economical with a tight stump to stump line. Imran Nazir missed out in making a big score, falling to Bhandari for 34 which came in 22 balls with 6 fours. The rest of the chase belonged to Salman Butt, who retired hurt after an 84-ball 83 which was laced with 13 fours and a six. Delhi bowlers helped the opposition with plenty of lose deliveries and their friendly pace. Misbah-ul-Haq just played himself in for the upcoming matches playing out 93 balls to make just 39 with the occasional aggressive shot. Yasir Hameed with a fluent 42-ball 33 finished the match along with young Fawad Alam in the 43rd over.