Pakistan go up in one-dayers

Pehsawar, Pakistan: A brave Pakistan run chase in the first one-day international against India, spearheaded by Salman Butt's third one-day hundred, ended in victory under the Duckworth Lewis scoring system yesterday.

The winning margin was seven runs. Pakistan required 329 runs for victory and ended on 311 for seven after 47 overs when the umpires offered the light to the batsmen in near-darkness.

Younis Khan (18) and Rana Naved (11) wasted no time in accepting the offer.

Opener Butt's 101 overshadowed Sachin Tendulkar's 39th century because it helped Pakistan pace their innings beautifully after they had won the toss and put India in.

The home side were always ahead under the DL system in the overcast conditions.

"It was difficult batting out there because of the conditions. But we played our hearts out," Butt said.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq earned the dubious honour of becoming only the third batsman in ODI history to be given out obstructing the field, after compatriot Rameez Raja and Indian Mohinder Amarnath.

He was dismissed in the 44th over when he blocked the ball with his bat to stop a direct throw from Suresh Raina at mid-off.

"I can't understand the rule. First I was given run out during the second Test against England at Faisalabad (last November) when I didn't take evasive action.

"Today I took action and I don't know why they gave me out," Inzamam said.

Pakistan's run-chase was set up by a flowing 151-run second wicket stand in 142 balls between Butt and Shoaib Malek (90).

After Butt's dismissal with the total on 201 in the 32nd over, India took wickets at regular intervals as the light became very poor.

Tendulkar's 100 from 113 balls, including 10 fours and a six, was his first in 12 games since April when he scored a century against Pakistan at Ahmedabad.

Irfan Pathan hit 65 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 68 also offered Tendulkar good support.

Tendulkar's dismissal in the 45th over with the total on 305 triggered a collapse in which India lost their last six wickets for just 23 runs in 28 balls.

Tendulkar, 33 next month, was bowled off a no-ball on 20 by seamer Rana Naved but survived to pass 14,000 runs in one-day cricket in his 359th match. Naved finished with four for 62.

SCOREBOARD

India
V. Sehwag c Akmal b Asif 5
S. Tendulkar lbw b Arshad 100
Irfan Pathan c sub (Farhat) b Naved 65
M. Dhoni c Malek b Asif 68
Y. Singh c Arshad b Razzaq 39
R. Dravid lbw b Naved 18
Mohammad Kaif c Butt b Asif 8
A. Agarkar run out 3
Zaheer Khan c Yousuf b Naved 5
M. Kartik lbw b Naved 1
S. Sreesanth not out 0
Extras (b5, lb2, nb6, w3) 16
Total 328
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-99, 3-225, 4-285, 5-305, 6-309, 7-315, 8-321, 9-324
Bowling: Naved 10-0-62-4, Asif 9.4-2-30-3, Gul 3-0-35-0, Razzaq 10-0-70-1, Afridi 10-0-68-0, Arshad 5-0-35-1, Malek 2-0-21-0
Overs: 49.4

Pakistan
Salman Butt c Dravid b Kartik 101
K.Akmal c sub (Gambhir) b S'santh 25
Shoaib Malek c Dravid b Zaheer 90
Shahid Afridi run out 17
M. Yousuf c Zaheer b Agarkar 17
I. Haq obstructing the field 16
Younis Khan not out 18
Abdul Razzaq c Dhoni b Agarkar 4
Naved-ul Hasan not out 11
Extras (lb1, nb2, w9) 12
Total (for seven wickets) 311
Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-201, 3-232, 4-244, 5-265, 6-289, 7-299
Bowling: Pathan 10-0-52-0, Sreesanth 10-0-75-1, Zaheer 8-0-50-1, Agarkar 9-0-58-2, Kartik 9-0-64-1, Sehwag 1-0-11-0
Overs: 47

Result: Pakistan won by seven runs on Duckworth-Lewis method
Super-sub: Arshad Khan (PAK), Suresh Raina (IND)
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Asad Rauf (PAK)
TV Umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)