Centurion, Sept. 26: A superbly-crafted 128 by middle order batsman Shoaib Malik and his mammoth 206-run combination with Mohammad Yousuf for the fourth wicket carried Pakistan to a massive 302/9 in their Group A game against India at the SuperSport Park here on Saturday.

After Younis Khan chose to bat at the toss, he could not have asked for a better effort from his batsmen. Openers Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal started briskly but wickets fell at regular intervals till the 15th over when Malik and Yousuf came together.

From then on, India were always chasing shadows. The duo started slowly and Malik in particular had a strike rate of around 50 initially. It was left to Yousuf to keep the scoreboard moving and the stylist paced himself beautifully scoring at almost a run a ball till Malik hit his straps.

Nazir fell in the fifth over, carving Ashish Nehra to Harbhajan Singh off a mis-hit but a good momentum had been set. Three overs later, Akmal followed when he dragged Nehra back on to his stumps.

Younis himself — batting through the pain barrier — kept his end going as Malik settled down. Rudra Pratap Singh, who had a nightmare start with 21 going off his opening two overs, came back and induced an edge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the sticks.

For the next 31 overs, India sat back and let the initiative drift away. While Yousuf was a busy man in his crease, Malik worked himself in gradually before opening his shoulders. His first 50 runs took 81 balls but the next 50 came in just 27 deliveries.

While all credit goes to the batsmen, they were also generously helped by poor bowling. Pre-match, this was known to be one of the weaker areas for this India side and nothing they put on show on the day — barring Nehra — provided any evidence to the contrary.

R.P. Singh and Ishant Sharma were wayward and while the latter may have picked up wickets in the final batting power-play, their profligacy gifted runs by the bushel to Malik and Yousuf. In a single over, Ishant was hit for boundaries in almost identical fashion, bowling short and wide. Each time, he was carved to the fence.

For the enthusiastic Pakistan fans, this was manna. Malik (126b, 15x4) accelerated gradually and by the time he lost Yousuf for 87 (88b, 7x4) he was racing along. The two had run their singles and two well, showing good understanding on the calls though there was not much need for that once the innings entered the final stages.

Between the 40th and 45th overs, they two put on 44 runs after 48 had come in the previous five. Inexplicably with the two batsmen so well set, they only opted for the batting power-plays from overs 46 to 50.

That was where India finally managed to pull things back somewhat, conceding 41 runs but picking up at least one wicket in every over. Nehra bowled the first and third PP overs and removed Yousuf and Umar Akmal, with Harbhajan and Yusuf Pathan taking one apiece. Ishant then came back to remove Umar Gul and Md Aamer in the 50th over. Nehra had 4/55, and Ishant 2/39 from eight overs.

Scorecard

Pakistan: Nazir c Harbhajan b Nehra 20, Kamran Akmal b Nehra 19, Younis c Dhoni b RP Singh 20, Malik c Pathan b Harbhajan 128, Yousuf b Nehra 87, Afridi c Dhoni b Pathan 4, Umar Akmal c Dhoni b Nehra 0, Naved-ul Hasan 11 n.o., Gul c Raina b Ishant 0, Aamer c Kohli b Ishant 0, Ajmal not out 0.

Extras (lb1, w12) 13

Total (in 50 overs) 302/9

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-53, 3-65, 4-271, 5-278, 6-289, 7-300, 8-301, 9-302.

Bowling: Ashish Nehra 10-0-55-4, RP Singh 9-1-59-1, Ishant Sharma 8-2-39-2, Virat Kohli 3-0-21-0, Yusuf Pathan 10-0-56-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-71-1.