Earlier Younis Khan came in after the dismissal of Kamran Akmal, who disappointed for the second consecutive time in this series. Younis Khan couldn’t play a good game in his earlier two matches of this inning ( as we saw in his game with Bangladesh he was run out and couldn’t face any ball whereas in a match with India he was bowled out at first ball ); Indian team was happy with him.
They were not feeling any serious threat and also not expecting any breakthrough from his side. But he changed it all.
Akmal as we talked earlier was not playing good; he was under pressure and already was seriously criticized from Nasim Ashraf – Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman - regarding last Pakistani defeat by India with a leading score of 140-runs.
He could hardly pile up 15 runs and sent back to pavilion after being caught by Dhoni on Irfan Pathan delivery.
Early dismissal of Akmal put Pakistani team into danger but Younis Khan didn’t let the Indians to increase pressure on Pakistani team.
He started his inning with boundary on the first delivery he faced and released the increasing pressure from Indian side through his attacking game.
Younis Khan and Salman Butt raised high the run rate and make a good partnership by adding 205 runs in Pakistan total.
Earlier Indian team missed a chance of dismissing Salman Butt when Sharma grounded the catch when he was just at 19. Younis was more attacking in this final match; and even more hard-hitter to Indian spinners.
Piyush Chawla, who was leading wicket taker from Indian side along with Praveen, was harshly treated in the final. He yielded 85 runs in his ten over spell.
Salman Butt, who started his inning cautiously, didn’t play the same cautious game throughout his inning.
He also became vigorous with the joining of Younis Khan and entertained the viewers with his three dashing sixes and dozens of boundaries. Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored 33 of 21 deliveries, was also a good contribution in Pakistani total; he added up his score when Pakistan passed the 300-runs.
