India A stumble at the final post

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Last updated on: May 06, 2006 00:32 IST

- Scorecard

India A stumbled at the post as Pakistan A crushed them for a 36-run victory in the final and won the Eurasia Series six-nation limited overs cricket tournament in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Pakistan, who had lost to their arch-rivals in a league match earlier in the tournament, seemed to have saved their best for last as they outplayed the Indians in all departments of the game to score a memorable win in the day-night encounter at the Sheikh Zayed stadium.

Inspired by a captain's knock of 106 not out by Hasan Raza, Pakistan posted a challenging 288 for four before dismissing the Indians for 252 with 13 balls to spare.

India, chasing the daunting target, overcame the cheap loss of its openers through a century stand between skipper Venugopala Rao (69) and Reetinder Singh Sodhi (70) for the third wicket.

But the dismissals of these two batsmen in the space of four balls, in the 40th over, saw the wheels come apart, with the last eight wickets falling for 63 runs.

Raza's sixth List A hundred, from 112 balls with eight fours and a six, laid the foundation for Pakistan's win.

The right hander reached his century with a stunning six over midwicket off Vikram Rajvir Singh in the last over of the innings.

That final over saw Pakistan plunder 19 runs including two sixes from Raza and the other not out batsman Bazid Khan.

Raza found valuable support in Misbah-ul-Haq who made a vital 73 from 94 balls with four fours and a six.

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