The pre-match analysis speculated it to be a competitive fixture; with Pakistan already backing themselves with 12 consecutive triumphs in the last 12 matches. However, as it turned out the actual backbone of the Pakistan team wasn’t looking to be in form – be it the skipper Shoaib Malik, or the explosive Shahid Afridi – as already witnessed in the preceding IPL.

On the contrary, India seemed to bring out the best of themselves, with their batting order running right till the death of their line up with the only exception being that of Ishant Sharma.

Moreover, it was the most obvious that was to follow right through. India comprehensively stood triumphant at the end of the day with 140 run margin between the two teams; with India stupendously outwitting the Pakistani bowling attack to put up 330 and restricting Pakistan to a mere 190 in 35.4 overs.

The IPL purple cap owner Sohail Tanvir failed to deliver the same consistency, letting Virender Sehwag (89) and Gautam Gambhir (62) thrash the ball around with spanking drives to pull off a humongous first wicket partnership of 155 in 21 overs; as they pulled off half centuries a piece. But the partnership could’ve easily been broken had Younis Khan not let the ball slip out of his hands twice – dropping Gambhir’s both times, on four and 29; while Akmal dropped Sehwag on 43 of Rao Iftikhar’s bowling.

Yuvraj Singh seemed to carry on with a 55 with three fours and an equal count of sixes, but the regular fall of wickets somehow weakened the run rate. The late middle order couldn’t live up to the same with the star performer for Rajasthan Royals, Yusuf Pathan managing only four runs and Rohit Sharma going under for a nine. The brisk start established by Mahendra Singh Dhoni (24) and Suresh Raina (26) couldn’t be renovated into huge scores and what was conjectured to be a total of 350 fell short by a margin of 20 runs.

Among the bowlers, Umar Gul proved to be the most productive with three wickets, yet highly economical as he gave away 61 in his quota of 10 overs.

In response, Pakistan had a forgettable, rugged instigation to their innings, with Praveen Kumar capturing the first three wickets – Salman Butt (nine), Younis Khan (0) and Mohammed Yousuf (11) – leaving the batting order stranded at a score of 26 for three.

However, the mighty T20 World Cup final star Misbah ul Haq, with his incredible potential to crash the ball along with Kamran Akmal, spanked the inning’s ninth over (that of Kumar’s) for 17, hoisting the total to 58 for three. But the two journeyed back to their hut when Praveen Kumar dismissed Akmal caught at mid on for a 38 and Misbah who was taken aback – caught behind by Dhoni - by the mighty pacer Ishant Sharma.

Afridi, the last of the recognised batsman, was left marooned when he took off on one of Chawla’s googlies that left him completely undone on a score of 23. Malik seemed to carry the torch with a 53 run knock, but with wickets tumbling all around left aggression to snap at him; offering nothing but a defeat.

Praveen Kumar bagged four wickets under his belt, that cost him 53 with two dismissals of consecutive deliveries. Chawla bettered himself with a four for 40.