The game started off in a very slow fashion, the Pakistani openers had taken the field with a specific mission. They were honing their skills in a strategy that had paid rich dividends in the Kitply series. The intention was clear from the very beginning – keep the wickets intact, keep the scoreboard moving with some runs regularly, deny maiden overs to the opposition bowlers, tire them out and, after midway go for the assault. The first wicket fell in the 22nd over with the score at 90. The innings ended at 299 for four – Shoaib Malik scored 125 with one six. Younis Khan added 59 runs. The score was a challenging one and must have worried Dhoni, because if his top failed to gel, there could have been trouble. Maintaining a rate of six runs per over continuously was a difficult task on the slow wicket.

However, when Sehwag comes to form, he is a devastating batsman. That is what happened – he lost his opening partner quickly, but Raina was there. He had won the man of the match award in the previous match with a century. He was fired up and it showed in his treatment of the opposition bowlers. The two put on more than 150 runs – Sehwag added one more century to his kitty and Raina scored 84 runs. The two of them belted eight huge sixes – the Pakistanis could manage only one. Yuvraj contributed his bit by putting on 48 runs in 27 balls – he had three sixes in the tally. Of course, the Pakistanis suffered a setback when Umar Gul had to go off the field due to muscle cramps. The match finished in the 42nd over - Raina walked off with the man of the match yet again. It was evident that the Indians were still in the T20 mood where large scores were the order of the day.

Dhoni has to continue to win the remaining matches and keep the pressure on the Pakistanis – a final between the two would be a nail biting one.