Shoaib Malik smashed a magnificent century to give Pakistan the upperhand against India in the Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy , in Centurion, on Saturday.
After a slow start Malik changed gears in style smashing 128, hitting a total of 16 boundaries in his 126-ball knock. His 206-run partnership in 193 deliveries with Mohammad Yousuf , who hit a composed 87 from 88 deliveries, saw Pakistan change the course of the match completely in the middle overs.
The Indian bowling failed to live upto expectations with senior most Harbhajan Singh the main culprit, giving away 71 runs in his ten overs for just one wicket. Ashish Nehra toiled hard, claiming four for 55 in his ten overs and Ishant Sharma took two for 39.
Imran Nazir survived a run out chance off the second ball of the match when Suresh Raina missed the stumps at the non-striker's end by a whisker as the right-hander attempted to steal a quick run on the off-side.
Nazir then made the Indians pay when he unleashed a cracking cover drive for his second boundary in the third over by Nehra followed by another couple boundaries off RP Singh in the fourth over to race to 20 from 16 deliveries.
Just when it looked the Pakistan openers would run havoc, India struck back when Nehra claimed the vital wicket of Nazir. The right-hander, who made 20 from 17 deliveries, attempted a pull short but top edged it and was neatly held by Harbhajan Singh at mid-on. (29-1, 4.2)
RP Singh was taken off after just two overs, during which he gave away 21 runs, including four boundaries.
But Ishant Sharma fared no better as he also conceded two boundaries in his first over. Captain Younis Khan glanced the first one through fine leg for a boundary while the second was despatched through the cover region.
Akmal smashed Nehra through midwicket for his third boundary as Pakistan raced to 51 for one after just seven overs.
Once again India struck against the run of play when Kamran Akmal inside edged Nehra onto his stumps to be bowled for 19 from 22 deliveries. (53-2, 8.5)
Akmal's wicket saw the run rate fall drastically as Pakistan cruising at 51 for one after seven overs managed only three runs in the next five overs to reach 54 for
two after 12 overs. Ishant, who went for nine runs in his first over, had played a big role in the comeback as he gave away just a single in his next three overs
including two maidens.
Meanwhile, RP Singh back for his second spell came up with the important wicket of captain Younis for 20 (33b). The left-armer bowling from round the wicket got
one to swing away from the batsman taking the edge to wicketkeeper Dhoni. (65-3, 14.4)
RP Singh made a strong comeback in his second spell giving away just four runs in three overs and claiming the wicket of Younis.
Pakistan innings looked stuck as just 20 runs came from the last ten overs with the scoreboard reading 71 for three after 17 overs. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
took the opportunity to introduce his part-timers in Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan hoping to squeeze in a few tight overs.
The Kohli experiment lasted just three overs without much success as the youngster went for 21 runs but at the other end Pathan was doing a good job with just
seven runs from his three overs.
With the part-timers in operation, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik had no problem getting their eye in as they steadily built the Pakistan innings in the middle overs as the duo brought up their 50-run partnership in 72 deliveries in the 27th over.
Yousuf then broke the sequence of singles with a delicate late cut through third man for a boundary against Pathan and Malik repeated that dose against Harbhajan in the next over.
The two batsmen finally decided to change gears as they slammed another two boundaries in Pathan's eighth over as he conceded 20 runs in his last two overs for 41 runs in eight overs. Those couple of boundaries also brought up the 100-run partnership between the two batsmen as they threatened to cut loose with the final few overs approaching.
Yousuf completed a deserved half-century with a single in the 35th over. The best part about his knock was that he kept it simple with singles and twos and despite
hitting just three boundaries, brought up the landmark in 55 deliveries.
Malik completed his fifty in style in 81 deliveries when he slammed Ishant through point for his fifth boundary in the 36th over. He seemed to have changed gears
after his fifty as he slammed another two boundaries in the same over as Pakistan started to take charge.
Malik continued pounding the third man boundary as he thumped RP Singh for consecutive boundaries to race to 84 from 98 deliveries. Amazingly, the right-hander smashed 34 runs in his last 18 deliveries as the Indian bowlers looked totally clueless against the onslaught.
The last ten overs were a complete turnaround for Pakistan as they hit 83 runs to reach 217 for three after 40 overs.
Malik once again creamed Pathan through his favourite point region for his 12th boundary to move into the 90s. He brought up his century in 108 deliveries with another boundary when he cut Harbhajan through the third man region.
It was raining boundaries through the point and third man region as Yousuf drove RP Singh effortlessly for his fifth boundary.
Finally, Nehra gave his team some much needed relief when he claimed the important wicket of Yousuf. The veteran batsman tried to hit every ball out of the park in the PowerPlay but was beaten by the slower one and was bowled for a wonderful innings of 87 from 88 deliveries, inclusive of seven boundaries. (271-4, 46)
His 206-run partnership in just 193 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Malik had given Pakistan complete control after they were bogged down following a few wickets.
Shahid Afridi needed no time to warm-up as he started with a lofted boundary over the cover region off Pathan in the 47th over. However, he fell off the very next delivery for 4 caught behind by Dhoni attempting another lofted over the off-side.(278-5, 47)
There was no stopping Malik, who taking advantage of the fielding restriction, smashed successive boundaries off Nehra to start the 48th over.
But wickets kept falling from the other end when Umar Akmal perished caught behind by Dhoni for a first-ball duck attempting a big shot. (289-5, 47.5)
Nehra was easily India's best bowler of the day as he finished with respectable figures of four for 55 in ten overs, when all others around him were being carted all around the ground.
Malik's brilliant knock of 128 came to an end in the penultimate over when he holed out to long-on to give Harbhajan his first wicket. The Pakistan right-hander was in complete control, hitting 16 boundaries in his 126-ball knock to help his team post a huge score. Half of his runs came between the third man and point region as Malik fetched 61 runs from that area, having breached that boundary 12 times.
Harbhajan bagged a wicket off his final delivery but his figures read a miserable one for 71 in his ten overs, on a day when nothing worked for him.
Umar Gul tried a wild slog but ended up top edging to be taken by Suresh Raina at point off Ishant for a duck, while Mohammad Aamer hit a slower delivery straight to the mid-on fielder off the first delivery he faced.
Pakistan finished on a huge 302 for nine in their 50 overs leaving India with a tough task on hand in their opening encounter.
