Published Sat, Jun 19 10 07:27 PM
Dambulla (Sri Lanka), Jun 19 (PTI) Salman Butt (74) and Kamran Akmal (51) made contrasting half centuries before India made a remarkable comeback to bowl out Pakistan for 267 in the Asia Cup cricket tournament here today. Butt was involved in two substantial partnerships at the start of the innings -- first a 71-run opening stand with Imran Farhat (25) and then shared 73 runs with Shoaib Malik (39) -- before three quick wickets in the middle overs put brakes on the Pakistani scoring. Praveen Kumar (3/53), Zaheer Khan (2/41) and Harbhajan Singh (2/47) was the pick of the Indian bowlers, sharing eight wickets between them at the Rangiri International stadium. Opting to bat in the do-or-die match, Pakistan were crusing at the 144 for one in the 29th over and looked good to make a total in excess of 290 before Indian bowlers scalped three wickets in just 17 balls to storm back into the game. The wickets slowly but assuredly tightened the noose around the Pakistan middle-order, who failed to get going on a slow and low Dambulla wicket. Pakistan got off to a solid start with Butt and Indian Cricket League-returnee Imran Farhat posting 71 runs for the first wicket. The openers were right on top of the Indian attack when Harbhajan produced the much-needed breakthrough, having comebackman Farhat smartly snaffled by Virender Sehwag at the first slip. But from there on India had to wait for 13 overs for another wicket as Butt and former captain Shoaib Malik, who is returning to the national team after three months following the removal of his 12-month ban, batted with rare aplomb to set the platform for a big total. The duo rotated the strike to upset the line of the spinners and occasionally scored a boundary to keep the score card ticking. But just as Pakistan began to assert themselves in the middle, left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan went through Mali''s defence to give India the breakthrough. To add to Pakistan''s dismay, Butt followed suit in the next over. He fell to a spectacular piece of fielding from Ranvindra Jadeja on his follow through. .
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