These were the questions left suspended in the cold evening fog at the Ferozeshah Kotla after India pulled off a near-miraculous ten-run win on Sunday. In a game of late twists and exasperating turns, the Pakistan batsmen made heavy weather of the modest 168-run chase, throwing it all away in the end to help India avoid the ignominy of a series whitewash on home soil.

Man of the Match MS Dhoni's words a day before the game, on how Pakistan could be vulnerable if India ever managed to put pressure on them, turned out to be prophetic as the visitors first recovered from 14/2 before Misbah-ul Haq fell to Ashwin to make it 113/4, triggering an inexplicable panic attack in the ranks.

Pakistan's top order plans had gone awry with Mohammad Hafeez coming in late to bat after sustaining a finger injury, and when Umar Akmal fell trying to give Jadeja the charge with the score at 125/6, India closed in for the kill. But Rahane dropped Hafeez at leg-slip off Ashwin and it seemed Pakistan would squeeze through after all. After 46 overs Pakistan needed to score at a run a ball with Hafeez and Umar Gul at the crease and four wickets in hand. What had seemed like a comfortable chase at one point was now an adrenaline-surged test of nerves, but definitely not beyond Pakistan.






In the dramatic dying moments of the game, Ishant Sharma got an increasingly tense Gul to hole out at long on, and India's debutant pacer Shami Ahmed, who had come up with a nippy, impressive opening spell, sent back Saeed Ajmal. Junaid Khan lost his poise and ran himself out, and with 23 needed off the last 12 balls, Hafeez fell to Ishant trying to force the pace. It was curtains for Pakistan and India have their bowlers and fielders to thank.

MS Dhoni, who top-scored with 36 runs in an extremely mediocre batting performance, decided to go with attacking fields from the start, and the fielders responded in style. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed's opening spells set the tone in conditions amenable for seam bowling. Pakistan limped to 22/2 by the first 10 and it was left to the out-of-form Misbah to engineer a recovery, first with Nasir Jamshed and then with Umar Akmal. But Ishant (3/36) and Ashwin (2/47) kept up the pressure till Pakistan choked.

 

The win masked India's continued poor showing with the bat, and even swapping Virender Sehwag for Ajinkya Rahane — in a dry run of the shape of things to come against England — didn't help matters. The batsmen were a massive letdown on a day the bowlers and fielders strove to make a match of the dead rubber. Even on a dry and flattish Kotla, the top order succumbed to Pakistan's pacers, as has been the pattern throughout, before Saeed Ajmal, the one who had missed out so far, tweaked his way to 5-24 off 9.4 overs. India lasted only 43.4 overs batting first.