India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI At Kanpur

The India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI of the current series between arch-rivals India and Pakistan was held on 11th of November at Green Park, Kanpur. The match, third in the series of 5 was excitingly poised as both the teams had won 1 match each prior to this match and was eager to win this one in order to go one step nearer to winning the series.

While India won the first match at Guwahati convincingly, Pakistan notched up a last gasp victory in the second one-dayer chasing a mammoth total of 321.In the India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI, the Pakistani Skipper won the toss and had no hesitation in putting the Indians in on a pitch expected to favor the pacers in the early hours. The experienced Indian opening pair of Tendulkar and Ganguly got them off to a decent start before both of them got out in quick succession.

Gambhir also followed soon and suddenly the Indians looked to be under trouble. But skipper Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj steadied the Indian innings with a quick century partnership. The end of the India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI innings saw some quick runs being scored by Harbhajan and Pathan as Indians finished their innings on 294/6. Yuvraj topscored with an explosive 77 and there were useful contributions from Dhoni (49), Ganguly(39) and Sachin(29). Sohail Tanveer turned up best figures with2/26 off his 10 overs.

The Pakistani chase, in the India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI got off to a flier in spite of the loss of last matchs hero, Afridis wicket. Salman Butt was at his usual best and cracked boundaries all round the wicket. But the wickets of Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana and skipper Malik put brake on the Pakistani innings. Although Butt along with Misbah-ul-Haq put up a partnership of 80 in the middle of the innings, some fine disciplined bowling by Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh ensured Pakistan folded up for 248 in the 48th over, leaving India victorious by 46 runs.

Salman Butt waged a lone battle with a classic 129 off 142 balls but didnt get the support of other batsmen. Both Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq lost their wickets after getting off to starts. For India, R P Singh took 3 wickets while Pathan, Harbhajan,Zaheer,Yuvraj and Kartick took 1 wicket each.For his fine knock of 77 and economic spell of 1/16 off 5 overs, Yuvraj Singh was adjudged Man of the Match, as the Indians put their nose in front in this vital series.This was the India vs Pakistan 3rd ODI. Nowpublic