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All-round India crush Pakistan

BISHWAJIT Roy from Colombo
History was not rewritten at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium last night. India maintained their hundred percent success record against Pakistan in ICC multinational tournaments when they bounced back strongly from their miserable performance in their first ICC World Twenty20 Super Eights match to inflict an eight-wicket defeat on their traditional rivals.
India's new batting sensation Virat Kohli scored a
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sublime, unbeaten 78 from 61 deliveries with the help of nine fours and two sixes to script an easy victory against a versatile Pakistan bowling attack after India's clinical bowling effort restricted Pakistan to a modest total.
The outcome not only kept India's hopes of reaching the semifinals alive but also ensured that interest in the group is kept alive till the last match on Tuesday as no team is yet confirmed a semifinal place, although Australia took a giant step towards the knockout stage after a comfortable victory over South Africa by eight wickets in the day's earlier match at the same venue.
There had been a lot of hype surrounding the clash but it became a dull affair in front of a capacity crowd in the big bowl mainly because of India's clinical display and Pakistan's brittle batting effort in the pressure game
after captain Mohammad Hafeez decided to bat first.
India, for whom this was a must-win game having suffered a heavy defeat in their first match against Australia, got off to a nervy start as Zaheer Khan — who brought back memories of his first over in the 2003World Cup final by bowling three wides in his first over here — conceded 13 runs in the first over which also saw Virender Sehwag drop the Pakistan skipper at slip off the last ball. But they never looked back once left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan provided the first breakthrough, trapping the in-form Imran Nazir in front. Pakistan then lost wickets at regular intervals before managing only 128 runs in 19.4 overs — a target that India overcame with three overs to spare.
India received an early jolt in their chase with the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir, but Virat Kohli joined Sehwag to dash any
hopes Pakistan may have had of bouncing back. Sehwag was dismissed for 29 but Kohli, who was dropped by Umar Akmal at backward point off Yasir Arafat on 42 and got another life later courtesy of Imran Nazir, was unbeaten on 78 to receive the man of the match award.
Earlier, Pakistan got off to a good start before Pathan's dismissal of Nazir. Pakistan coach and Shrewd tactician Dav Whatmore promoted the dashing Shahid Afridi up the batting order but his experiment didn't work as pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji bowled a bouncer which Afridi pulled straight down the throat of deep square leg fielder Suresh Raina, who pouched it gleefully.
It was however occasional left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh who inflicted the main damage taking the wickets of Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal in his first two overs, while another part-timer
Virat Kohli bowled Pakistan skipper Hafeez as Pakistan could manage only 60 runs for five wickets from the first 10 overs.
Some resistance came from Shoaib Malik and the young Umar Akmal but their effort was not good enough to set a challenging total for the vaunted Indian batting line-up which was bolstered by the return of Sehwag.
The Pakistan top order, which is generally considered to be their weak link, failed for the second successive game -- a real cause for concern for the Pakistan management. On the other hand, India made two changes to the team that lost to Australia, bringing in Sehwag and Balaji in place of Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla, and the team put in a clinical display in all three departments to give skipper Dhoni some breathing space after all the debate regarding his captaincy.