Ton-up Yuvraj, Dhoni power India to another win over Pakistan by AFP

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Ground:	National Stadium, Karachi
Scorecard:	Pakistan v India
Player:	Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni
Event:	India in Pakistan 2005/06

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DateLine: 19th February 2006

 

Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni powered India to another comfortable eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international here on Sunday to clinch the series 4-1.

 

Yuvraj hit an unbeaten 107 while Dhoni smashed a 46-ball 77 not out to help the tourists to their fourth successive win. They successfully chased the 287-run target with 3.1 overs to spare.

 

Pakistan, beat India in the preceding three-Test series 1-0 and won the first match at Peshawar by seven runs.

 

Yuvraj, 24, added 72 runs for the second wicket with skipper Rahul Dravid (50) after India lost Gautum Gambhir (38) to Rao Iftikhar in the 15th over.

 

Dravid fell in the 31st over which allowed Dhoni to once again demolish the hapless Pakistan attack during a breezy 146-run stand with Yuvraj which came off just 99 balls.

 

Yuvraj, who finished the series as the top run-getter from both sides with 344 runs in five matches, hit 15 boundaries during his 93-ball knock and Dhoni continued his liking for Pakistan attack, hitting four sixes and six fours.

 

Dhoni hit paceman Mohammad Sami for two towering sixes and then took a single to complete the win.

 

India rested their star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and pace spearhead Irfan Pathan.

 

Dravid praised his team for not letting up in the dead match.

 

"We had won the series before today's match, but the boys showed their professionalism today and restricted them to 286 and its a good result for us.

 

"We were confident that our batting was clicking and we could chase," Dravid said. "The goal was to win the series 4-1 and we are learning constantly about the way we are chasing targets and I think the confidence was the key."

 

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq said the series had been demanding.

 

"It was a tough series for us. We were outclassed by India. We now need to learn from our mistakes quickly," Inzamam said.

 

Pakistan's total was built around Younis Khan's unbeaten knock of 74 and a fighting 67 by Mohammad Yousuf who shared a fifth wicket stand of 95 after Dravid won his third consecutive toss and put Pakistan in.

 

Paceman Sri Sreesanth, who finished with a career-best 4-58, removed the home team's top order by dismissing Imran Farhat (24), Kamran Akmal (25) and Shoaib Malik (12) in his first five-over spell.

 

The 24-year-old fast bowler derailed Pakistan who got off to a solid start of 62 by the 11th over before losing three wickets in the space of just 15 runs.

 

Mohammad Yousuf added 38 runs with skipper Inzamam-ul Haq for the fifth wicket before off-spinning allrounder Ramesh Powar trapped Inzamam in front of the wicket for 21 to dampen Pakistan's hopes of a big total.

 

Yousuf and Younis then took Pakistan past the 200-mark before Yousuf flicked paceman Ajit Agarkar straight to deep fine-leg after hitting six boundaries during his 85-ball knock.

 

Abdul Razzaq hit a rapid 15-ball 24 with two boundaries and a six as Pakistan managed 76 runs in the last 10 overs.

 

Younis hit two sixes in Zaheer Khan's final over to lift Pakistan's total. He also hit three boundaries during his 79-ball knock.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)