Yuvraj and Dhoni Batter Pakistan Into Submission

India moved into a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five one-day series against Pakistan with an impressive five-wicket win at Lahore.

Chasing Pakistan’s 288 for 8, India eased home with 14 balls to spare thanks to 95 from Sachin Tendulkar, an unbeaten 72 from the in-form Yuvraj Singh and 72 from wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

But at one stage it looked as if India would get nowhere near. They lost Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan inside three overs - both wickets falling to Mohammad Asif - before Tendulkar launched a counter-attack. He put on 72 for the third wicket with captain Rahul Dravid, only for Dravid to be run out by Umar Gul from mid-on.

Tendulkar and Yuvraj continued the fightback, piling on 105 in just 15.4 overs as the Pakistan bowlers started to struggle on a placid track. The hosts finally made a breakthrough when Tendulkar went five short of his 40th ODI century. Mohammad Kaif then fell for a second-ball duck, but that simply hastened the arrival of the big-hitting Dhoni, who smashed his runs from just 46 balls, including 13 fours.

Earlier, Pakistan’s off-spinning all-rounder Shoaib Malik hit 108 from 120 balls, with 11 fours and a six. His fellow all-rounder Razzaq came in at No8 and launched a furious onslaught, hitting seven fours and two sixes in his 56-ball innings. In the end, though, it was not enough.