India Pakistan 2007 Cricket Series Jaipur ODI
IND v PAK, 5th ODI: Pakistan beat India by 31 runs (PAK 2:3)
Nov 18, 2007
Shoaib Malik put in a superb all-round performance to help Pakistan post a consolation 31-run win over India in the fifth and final one-day international on Sunday.
The skipper top-scored with a solid 89 and then grabbed three wickets with his off-spin as Pakistan bowled out India for 275 after scoring a challenging 306-6 in the day-night game for their second victory.
Malik removed Rohit Sharma (52), captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (24) and debutant Praveen Kumar (12) to ensure his team go into the upcoming three-Test series in a better frame of mind.
The opening Test begins in New Delhi on Thursday.
Yuvraj Singh (50) was the other notable contributor for India, who had gained an unbeatable 3-1 lead going into the final match. He looked a bit surprised when given out caught behind attempting to pull paceman Umar Gul.
Pre-Match Report:
Having already clinched the one-day series against Pakistan, India have decided to rest their frontline bowlers as they go into the fifth and final cricket one-dayer here on Sunday with a combination heavily loaded with batsmen.
The unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series has given the home team the luxury to try out some of their bench players, and the team management has opted to give the main bowlers a break.
The Indians have chosen to leave out pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacer R P Singh from the match which has been reduced to an academic interest following the team's first home series triumph in 24 years.
"We have decided to rest Zaheer, Harbhajan and R P Singh for the match. We will decide the playing 11 after having a look at the pitch tomorrow," cricket manager, Lalchand Rajput, said.
Temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, who has not played a single match in the series, and in-form left arm spinner, Murali Kartik, are almost certain to play the floodlit encounter which promises to be another high-scoring affair.
The decision to rest the key bowler means that senior batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were expected to be rested, may figure in the playing line-up.
Among the 12 shortlisted for the match, batsman Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Praveen Kumar have not played a single game so far and it is quite possible that both the young players are drafted in the 11.
IND vs PAK 5th ODI, Jaipur: Pakistan 306-6 (50 overs) beat India 275-10 (49.5 overs) 31 by runs
