The Pepsi Cup

Pakistan demonstrated, without a shadow of a doubt, why they are currently
the best team in the Subcontinent when they beat India by 123 runs to win
the Pepsi Cup.
Wasim Akram called 'tails', won the toss and decided that Pakistan would bat
first. The opening pair of Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi made a dream start.
In the second over of the match they smashed Srinath for 17 runs! The first
ball was a full toss, Anwar got a thick edge and the ball raced past 2nd
slip to the boundary. Anwar turned of his pads the next ball for 3 runs.
Afridi, who was on strike next, played a exquisite cover drive to the
fence. Next ball, Afridi thumped over cover for a boundary.
However Prasad struck for the Indians in the next over. Anwar was caught
plumb in front of middle stump. Prasad bowled very well throughout the
innings (his first 6 overs cost only 22 runs) and was without doubt the best
Indian bowler. In Srinath's third over, Ijaz offered no shot to a
huge inswinger and was bowled. A truly magnificent delivery that made Ijaz
look rather silly for not playing at it. Inzamam, the next man in, straight
away got on with business by hitting a boundary through square leg.
Afridi, continued his rampant onslaught on the Indian bowling lineup.
'Attack', 'murder' or 'destroy' the bowling seem to be the only things he
can do. At the other end Inzamam was a man on a mission. He was even
interested in taking singles! Afridi and Inzamam continued to build up a
good partnership. At the end of 10 overs Pakistan were 52/2.
Both batsmen took a fancy to Robin Singh's bowling. In the 20th over, Robin
Singh went for 19 runs, which included 3 fours and one huge six by Afridi
that crashed into the sight screen. Ganguly was called upon to break up the
partnership and he did just that. In fact, his very first
ball was mistimed by Afridi straight to Jadeja. Afridi had made an
aggressive 65 of 61 balls, including 9 fours and 1 six. He had added 94
crucial runs with Inzamam. After 25 overs Pakistan were 139/3.
Inzamam, with the help of Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood, built up the Pakistan
innings by keeping the scoreboard ticking. Moin looked quite dangerous till
he nicked a ball from Prasad to the keeper. Inzamam was finally run out in
the 45th over due a mix up with Azhar. Inzamam was unlucky to get out on 91.
Some powerful blows towards the end of the innings from Akram (21 of 17
balls) ensured that Pakistan set a mammoth target of 292 for India.
Pakistan's total of 291 being the highest score ever at Bangalore, India
needed to bat extremely well to win this game. Nothing even remotely like
that happened. Akram and Akhtar bowled at full pace. While Akram struggled
with no balls and wides, Akhtar was near perfect. He rattled both the
openers with his pace. With the score on 5, Ramesh, beaten by Akhtar's pace,
nicked the ball straight to the keeper.
Dravid and Ganguly pushed the scoring along. After five overs India were
31/1. Ganguly was attacked with ferocious short pitch deliveries from both
pacemen. The Prince of Calcutta was besieged! He did fight back by hitting
some glorious square drives and square cuts. But the overall frustration got
to Ganguly. In an attempt to make room for himself, Ganguly moved away
from the stumps and swiped at a ball from Akram. All he managed was to nick
the ball to the keeper. The next batsman, Khurasiya, added only 3 runs
before he given out - leg before wicket. He was a trifle unlucky, for the
ball seemed to hit the pads quite high. After 10 overs India were reeling at
48/3. Dravid was the next man out when he was trapped plumb in front of the
bowling of Azhar Mahmood. Dravid made 25, which included some beautiful
boundaries on the leg side. The last hope for India was in the form of Robin
Singh and Ajay Jadeja. But beautiful swing bowling by Azhar Mahmood
was too much for Singh to handle. He edged a ball outside off stump that was
snapped up by Moin. A brave 41 by Ajay Jadeja could not prevent the
inevitable and India lost by a margin of 123 runs. India's disgrace was
further heightened when a section of the crowd started throwing bottles at
the Pakistani fielders.
Azhar Mahmood's brilliant bowling figures of 10-1-38-5 ensured that he was
made Man of the Match. S.Ganguly was awarded the Man of the series for being
the highest run scorer in the Pepsi Cup.

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