India struggling at 85 for 4 after 23 overs ? Cricket News Roundup ? Part I ? January 3, 2013
Chasing a competitive target of 251 to win, set by the Nasir Jamshed led Pakistan line up, India were struggling four down at the end of the 23rd over, with the scorecard reading just 85, in the second One Day International of the three-match series, being played here at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata today.
Southpaw seamer Junaid Khan, who was the pick of Pakistan bowlers during their six-wicket win in the series opener in Chennai, once again made the early inroads removing opener Gautam Gambhir and danger man Virat Kohli inside 12 overs of their chase, to reduce the hosts to 55 for 2. Khan?s fellow pacer Umar Gul accounted for Virender Sehwag (31) and Yuvraj Singh (9) to help Pakistan strengthen their grip on the match.
Earlier after being put into bat, openers Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez provided the tourists a strong start, taking the side to 141 without loss in the 24th over. Jamshed smashed his second century in as many games to help Pakistan post a competitive total on the board, despite a middle and lower order debacle. Spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and spearhead pacer Ishant Sharma shared six wickets between them.
The tourists have retained their playing XI from the six wicket win in Chennai, while India made one change to their squad from the previous game, Rohit Sharma making way for Ravindra Jadeja.
"The wicket has been under covers, the conditions are overcast, so we want to exploit it. There is considerable amount of pressure after losing the first game, it is a do-or-die situation. We wanted to strengthen the bowling," Dhoni said at the Toss.
Pakistan currently lead the series one nil and need one more victory to clinch the series.
India?s Playing XI: 1?Gautam Gambhir, 2?Virender Sehwag, 3?Virat Kohli, 4?Yuvraj Singh, 5?Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7?Ravindra Jadeja, 8?R Ashwin, 9?Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10?Ishant Sharma, 11?Ashok Dinda
Pakistan?s Playing XI: 1?Mohammad Hafeez, 2?Nasir Jamshed, 3?Azhar Ali, 4?Younis Khan, 5?Misbah-ul-Haq(capt), 6?Shoaib Malik, 7?Kamran Akmal?(wk), 8?Junaid Khan, 9?Umar Gul, 10?Saeed Ajmal, 11?Mohammad Irfan
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