India vs Pak ODI: It’s over well before it’s over

The unbeaten 125 off 100 balls he put on with Ashwin is third highest for the seventh wicket in ODIs. Ashwin's contribution was 35. Dhoni finished on an unbeaten 113, India on 227/6, a total that was unthinkable even until a few deliveries before the innings ended.

It seemed the knock had somehow altered the direction in which the match headed, so much so that India would even have fancied the win a few overs into the chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar curved one into the stumps of Mohammad Hafeez with the first ball of the innings and had Azhar Ali pull into the hands of mid-wicket.

At 10.2 overs, Pakistan were 21/2. After 30.2 overs, at the end of a passage during which Dhoni made his 'fifth bowler' send down nine overs, Younis Khan and Jamshed had moved the score to 133/2, more than doubling the run rate. The former departed a ball later, but the damage was already done, much earlier.

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