NEW DELHI: Pakistan failed to make a clean sweep of the three-match One-day International series against their arch rivals India losing the third and final ODI International by ten runs in a sensational way here at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground on Sunday.
Chasing an easy target of 168 runs, Pakistan were well on the way towards a comfortable victory when they were on 113-3 in 34 overs, needing only 55 from 16 overs but as soon as skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was out the match gradually turned in India’s favour.
Then Pakistan were under immense pressure as they were losing wickets at regular intervals and finally they were all out for 157 in 48.5 overs.
However, Pakistan won the three-match series 2-1.
Pakistan’s main scorers were Misbah (39), Nasir Jamshed (34), Umar Akmal (25) and Mohammad Hafeez (21), who came to bat late due to a thumb injury
For India, Ishant Sharma took three wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin claimed two wickets each.
Earlier, Pakistan bowlers dismissed India for 167 in 43.4 overs after India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal grabbed five wickets for 24 in 9.4 overs after fast bowlers Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan wiped out the top three batsmen for a paltry 37 runs in 9.3 overs.
Irfan claimed two for 28 in seven overs while Junaid bagged one for 17 in nine overs.
Umar Gul and Mohammad Hafeez also got one wicket each.
For India, Dhoni top scored with 36, followed by Suresh Raina (31), Ravindra Jadeja (27) and Yuvraj Singh (23).
Pakistan made one change i
n the team which won the first two ODIs, bringing in young batsman Umar Akmal in place of out-of-form batsman Azhar Ali.
There were two changes in Indian side as out-of-form batsman Virender Sehwag and seamer Ashok Dinda were replaced by opening batsman Ajinkya Rahane and debutant medium-pacer Shami Ahmed.
