The fluent win at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in front of a near capacity Sunday crowd took the hosts to the top of the leader board of the Group VI Qualifying Round league, with nine points. India play bottom placed Bhutan in the final league match on Tuesday and winning the match should be a mere formality for the skillful Indians.

After a barren first session during which India held the advantage, Nitin Pradhan headed his side ahead in the 49th minute, a lead which was improved ten minutes later by James Singh's scorching 25-yard kick.

Indian strikers Shaikh Sanjib and Nitin Pradhan, hardworking as ever, were complemented by medios James Singh, Rocky Barreto and Murali who rocked the rival defence with imaginative passes.

The Indian defenceenjoyed a relaxed period at the outset and did much to help the attack. Prabhjot Singh, Cowan Lawrence and Farooq Hyder forayed well ahead to pile on pressure on the Pakistan defence.

For all that, a goal remained elusive during the first half which brought the hosts six corners.

But four minutes after resumption, Pradhan rose in air in a splendid manner meeting the ball with his body parallel to the pitch to head the ball past a completely bemused Ajmal Khan off a Rocky Barreto free-kick from the right flank. Rocky and Nitin had done the spadework themselves for the free-kick, which was awarded when the latter was tackled illegally by Pakistan's Amir Khan during the course of an eye catching short passing sequence.

In the 59th minute, James Singh, set up by his skipper, sizzled the air with his stinging kick from about 25 yards, which ended in the left corner of the Pakistan goal.

After the 2-0 lead, the Indians pulled themselves into a shell.

The defensive tactics of the Indians helped Pakistanattempt a fightback led by their captain Zulfikar Ali and Khuda Bux, but a stoic Naseem Akthar proved a tough nut to crack under the Indian goal.

Earlier, a match of mere academic interest sprung to life when Bhutan fought back from a 0-2 deficit to level the scores against Maldives.

Maldives went ahead in the 50th minute through substitute Firaz Ahmed Moosa, an effort which was improved by Anil Ibrahim in the 64th minute.

The Bhutanese surge began a minute after that goal, when Tshering converted a penalty kick, which was awarded by referee Rama Krishna Ghosh when Maldivian goalkeeper Hameed Hassan brought down an eager Bhutanese forward Hem Bahadur Tamang.

Tamang equalised with only moments left in the match off a Thinlay Wangchuk free-kick.