Cricket
Join this channel to get access to perks: / @cricketmax87 Chasing a daunting target of 309, Pakistan needed a strong start — and their openers delivered exactly that. Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed attacked India's seamers from the very beginning. Butt punished anything short or wide, while Jamshed repeatedly stepped down the track and took the attack to Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan. India's bowlers struggled badly in the heat and on a pitch offering very little assistance. Butt was eventually run out after an aggressive opening partnership, while Jamshed continued until cramps forced him out for an impressive 53. Then came the Younis Khan show. Younis immediately attacked the spinners, using sweeps, drives and clever improvisation to keep the required rate under control. He brought up his fifty and also reached the landmark of 5,000 ODI runs, becoming only the ninth Pakistan batsman to achieve the milestone. After Mohammad Yousuf was bowled by Piyush Chawla, Younis found the perfect partner in Misbah-ul-Haq. Misbah showed no signs of captaincy pressure. He attacked India's spinners with powerful slog-sweeps and pulled the scoring rate even higher. Younis was particularly severe on Chawla, eventually launching him over the roof. Younis then completed a magnificent 123, his fifth ODI century and his third century against India. Misbah remained unbeaten on 70, scoring at more than a run a ball, and calmly finished the chase with a flick through the leg side. Pakistan reached the target with 27 balls remaining, completing a dominant victory and keeping their hopes of reaching the tournament final alive. Virender Sehwag once again launched a breathtaking assault and gave India a flying start. India raced to 86 in the first 10 overs, but Abdur Rauf's double strike brought Pakistan back into the contest. Yuvraj Singh played a brief but elegant innings before falling, leaving India at 129 for 4. Then MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma produced a crucial 112-run partnership. Both eventually reached half-centur
