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AHMEDABAD: A professional performance by the Indian team helped them gain a face-saving and series-leveling win over Pakistan in the second T20 here at Motera on Friday.


For once, India did everything right with the bat but looked like giving it all away while bowling till the time the spinners were on. It was the re-introduction of seam in the 15th over which put the brakes on scoring which led to the fall of wickets to pave the way for a memorable 11-run victory. Unlike the last match or the one against England before that, Indian bowlers bowled well at the death which proved crucial in the end.

Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shahzad gave Pakistan the start they needed, putting on 74 runs for the first wicket chasing India’s massive 192 for the loss of five wickets. Though both departed in the space of just six deliveries, Pakistan found two dependable figures in skipper Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal as they went on treating the Indian bowlers with the same disdain with which the Indian batsmen had treated the Pakistani bowlers earlier in the day.

But once the faster bowlers started operating again, it was a different scenario altogether. They went for the occasional four and six. But they were generally hard to score off and the pressure started mounting.

It was Dinda who first gave some hope to the silent but packed house by uprooting Umar Akmal’s middle stump in the 17th over when Pakistan still needed 47 runs to win. Old warhorse Shahid Afridi and skipper Hafeez almost silenced the crowd, putting on 17 runs off just nine balls before the dangerous Afridi was caught at the long-off fence by Rohit Sharma off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

But it was Dinda’s double strike in the 19th over when he removed the dangerous Hafeez and Kamran Akmal, both caught in the deep by Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina respectively that really pegged Pakistan back.

Earlier, the dew factor prompted Hafeez to put India in after he won the toss. But as he later said, there wasn’t enough dew to make any difference to the outcome. The pitch had nothing for the bowlers and most batsmen who had a chance to wield the willow made merry.

But what stood out was Yuvraj Singh’s 36-ball 72 with seven 6s and four 4s and his 97-run fourth wicket partnership with skipper MS Dhoni (33 from 23 balls with four 4s) which propelled India towards a formidable total.

The earlier batsmen too managed to create a hole in Pakistan’s bowling bubble as Gautam Gambhir (21 from 11 balls, 4x4), Ajinkya Rahane (28 from 26 balls) and Virat Kohli (27 from 22 balls) played important cameos.