Well, the tension has partially dissipated, and India has proved they are a better ODI team than their neighbors.  At least for the first ODI held at Guwahati yesterday in Pakistan’s tour of India.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat on what could have been a deceptive pitch.  Opening their innings with Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal, Pakistan started briskly due to some wayward bowling and then held on to a decent pace thanks to some well-placed shots by Butt. 

His partner Akmal obviously struggling for form and runs let a lot of balls whiz past him or into the safe hands of fielders, a blunder that would later come to trouble his team in their overall total.  With a strike rate of 40 when batting was at its best against the pace bowlers, Kamran’s 12 runs off 30 balls began the batting woes of Pakistan.

 Once he was dispatched back to the pavilion, one of Pakistan’s more experienced batsmen Younis Khan joined Butt.

Looking wayward and confused for most of his time on the crease, he was similarly afflicted with the slow scoring syndrome. 

 His stance did not inspire confidence to his team and neither did his oversight in not responding to his partner’s call for a quick run.  He was too busy looking at the fielder, a cardinal sin when two of you are playing. 

The result was a run-out for Salman Butt who had up to that moment shown that he was the only Pakistani batsman who had come dressed and ready for the big occasion. 

 Younis was eventually dispatched for 25 off 58 balls, but by then the damage had been done.  With his strike rate of 43% Pakistan was behind and their hopes of a high score and a recovery rested on some late flurries by Afridi, Mohamed Yousuf and Misbah ul Haq who managed to push Pakistan to a total of 239 in their 50 overs, well short of the predicted 270 runs on this wicket. 

 India, fittingly were up to the challenge.  Although Tendulkar’s early wicket may have caused a minor hiccup, Ganguly and Gambhir put on an 82-run partnership at almost a run a ball to set India towards a well-deserved victory. 

Pakistan’s fielding was punctuated by some lapses on the field, adding to their mounting woes.

The Indian captain Dhoni and Yuvraj then added the finishing touches with a 105 run partnership and Pakistan were down for the count.

A game so high in profile should have produced better performance by the Pakistani batsmen. But in holding on to Akmal in spite of a poor run of form for the past two years, and relying heavily on the batting inconsistencies of Younis Khan, Pakistan has no hopes of winning this series.