Exactly a decade ago, Pakistan’s Salman Butt and Younis Khan scored individual centuries to post a formidable total against India in the final of the Kitply Cup at Dhaka. Their partnership had set a pattern for Pakistan’s 25-run victory in the final.
Earlier in the tournament, India had beat Pakistan by a massive margin of 140 runs in the second match of the tri-series. Shoaib Malik, the then Pakistani captain, had won the toss and chose to bat in the final.
Pakistan had sent in Butt and Kamran Akmal to open the innings. Lack of runs in the first phase of the innings saw Kamran Akmal (15) edging an Irfan Pathan delivery to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the wickets. In the following over, Butt had cut a short and wide delivery Praveen Kumar low to Rohit Sharma at cover point. Rohit failed to hold on to a tough chance and perhaps it was the luck that Pakistan needed.
Butt and Younis believed in rotating the strike in the next 10 overs. By the end of 20 overs, Pakistan had scored 75-1. At the halfway mark, they had reached 104-1 with Younis hitting two sixes in two consecutive overs against Virender Sehwag and Piyush Chawla respectively. On the penultimate delivery of the following over, with a single through the leg-side off Chawla, Butt completed his ninth ODI half-century.
On the other end, Younis had already pressed the accelerator. On the first delivery of the 28th over, with a single towards mid-wicket off Yuvraj Singh, he too completed his half-century. Runs started to flow for the Pakistanis to the point that the opposition looked helpless.
On the fourth delivery of the 39th over, Butt played a Chawla delivery through the mid-wicket region to run a couple of runs and complete his seventh ODI century, his fifth against India. At the end of 40 overs, Pakistan had reached 225-1, scoring 150 runs in the last 20 overs without losing a wicket. On the fourth delivery of the 41st over, Younis reached to his milestone, scoring a century off 92 balls, his fourth in ODIs.
It was Ishant Sharma in the following over who put a halt to this stand as he dismissed Younis on 108 (99). His innings comprised of eight fours and three sixes. With fours remaining in the innings, Butt became a victim of cramps and had to retire hurt after scoring 129* (136) with the help of 12 fours and three sixes.
In their allotted quota of 50 overs, Pakistan scored 315-3. For India, Irfan Pathan (10-0-59-2) was the highest wicket-taker. India fell short of the target by 25 runs as they were bowled out on 290 in 48.2 overs. Dhoni, who came in to bat at No. 7, top-scored with 64 (95). With bowling figures of 9-0-57-4, Umar Gul was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan.
Watch the highlights of the match:
