Top class all around performance from Pakistan gave them a 6 wicket win against India in the 1^st ODI played in the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. Earlier, MS Dhoni yet again continued his toss losing streak, and one can say that it cost the match for India.

Centurion Nasir Jamshed leads Pakistan to 6 wickets victory over India

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq after winning the toss with no doubts in mind opted to field first. India had a terrible start as their formidable batting order collapsed very early at the start of the innings. India lost their top 5 for just 29 runs under 10 over’s with none failed to score even double digits. Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan who produced this damage with his destructive opening spell was on a roll and picked up 4 wickets cleaning the stumps of Virender Sehwag,on a roll and picked rly at the start of theinnings India had a terrible start  Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh.

MS Dhoni had a huge responsibility in setting things right for the team and he did that exactly! He steadied the ship along with Suresh Raina and added 73 for the 6^th wicket when Raina was bowled by Mohammed Hafeez for 43. Chennai’s local boy R Ashwin together with MS Dhoni batted all through the innings. Both added 125 runs for the 7^th wicket which was India’s highest and raised the team score to a decent 227. Ashwin scored a valuable 31 runs and was unbeaten along with Dhoni who scored his 8^th century in ODIs. This is Dhoni’s first century in almost 3 years. He also crossed 7000 runs in ODIs in this innings becoming the 7^th Indian and 32^nd overall ODI batsman to reach this milestone.

Pakistan too didn’t have a good start as they lost opener Mohammed Hafeez in the very first ball bowled by debutant Bhuneshwar Kumar becoming the second bowler in India to pick up a wicket in the very first ball of his career. He then picked up Azhar Ali in the 11^th over for 9 runs Pakistan were in a real trouble at that time with 21-2 in 11 overs. Nasir Jamshed played a gem of an innings for Pakistan and continued his fine form against India in ODI’s went to score his 2^nd century in ODIs. His 1^st too was against India in the Asia cup. He along with Younis Khan batted sensibly and added 112 run winning partnership for the 3^rd wicket. Dinda broke the partnership in the 31^st over picking up Younis Khan for 58 runs and showed some hopes for India to get back into this game. Misbah-ul-Haq too didn’t last long as he got out for 16 runs, but Nasir Jamshed was rock solid and ensured Pakistan’s success with the help of Shoaib Malik who scored the winning runs. Pakistan reached the target of 228 in the 49^th over and leads the three match ODI series 1-0. Both Nasir Jamshed and Shoaib Malik were unbeaten on 101 and 30 respectively. India saw few lapses in the fielding; some proved even to be costly as Nasir Jamshed was dropped by Yuvraj Singh when he was just 68.

MS Dhoni was awarded the Man of the Match for his sensational century. The Chennai crowd might have been disappointed on India’s loss but would’ve had great joy when very own IPL captain played a stellar role. Let’s hope India will come back strong in their next match which will be played on 3^rd January 2013 in Kolkata. India ended 2012 on a losing note; let’s wish and pray that India will have a great successful year ahead!

Tags: 1st ODI, Airtel ODI Series, Chennai, Cricket, India, MA Chidambaram Stadium, MS Dhoni, Nasir Jamshed, ODI Series, Pakistan