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Bangladesh tri-series (Bangla, India & Pak)
India handed an embarrassing defeat to Pakistan in their match of the tri-nation series in Mirpur. Chasing a mammoth 331 runs, Pakistan batting fell short by 140 runs and collapsed for a mere 190 runs.With this win, India dashed Pakistan's hopes to extend their winning streak to 13 consecutive victories. No Pakistani batsman rose to the challenge except their skipper Shoaib Malik, who scored 53 runs.Praveen Kumar spelled doom for the immediate neighbours as he picked four wickets to deplete Pakistan of their top-order. He made early inroads in their batting and removed Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohd Yousuf and Kamran Akmal.He dismissed Salman Butt and Younis Khan off successive deliveries. Butt made 9 runs while Younis Khan went for a naught for the second time in the tri-series. Mohd Yousuf contributed just eleven runs.
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After early jolts, Kamran and Misbah consolidated Pakistan innings and added 55 runs in no time. Praveen then sent Kamran back for 38 runs, who looked threatening. All hopes then clung to Misbah but he also perished. Ishant Sharma claimed his wicket for 24 runs. Piyush Chawla also clinched four wickets of Shahid Afridi (23), Sohail Tanvir (6), Shaoib Malik and Wahab Riaz. Yuvraj Singh avenged his wicket when he sent Umar Gul back for seven runs.Earlier, with a splendid batting display, India made 330 runs at the loss of eight wickets against Pakistan at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir mauled Pakistani bowlers and added 155 runs for the first wicket. Wahab Riaz picked their wickets for 89 and 62 runs respectively.
Pakistan managed to get the first breakthrough in the 22nd over when Riaz claimed Gambhir's wicket.Debutant Yusuf Pathan started his ODI career disappointingly as he could add only three runs. Rohit Sharma also failed to perform and added just nine runs.Yuvraj Singh continued his romance with the Pakistan attack and slammed his 36th ODI fifty. This was also his tenth half-century against the archrival. Captain Dhoni added 38 runs for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj, contributing 24 runs before Sohail Tanvir saw him off. After the fall of Yuvraj and Dhoni, Irfan (17) and Raina (26) added 51 runs for the seventh wicket.Pakistan had gone with four fast bowlers and were struggling with the over rate. Their fielding was also very sluggish as they missed quite a few chances. Shahid Afridi's tweakers not only helped Pakistan catch up with over rate but also fetched him couple of wickets. Umar Gul picked three wickets of Yuvraj, Irfan and Raina.
