Dhaka: Pakistan on Sunday set 330 runs target against the arch rivals India with curtsy of  opening pair Muhammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed’s centuries.
Pakistan opening pair set a highest opening partnership against India in ODIs and put Pakistan into command.
Hafeez smashed his fourth ODI hundred and first against India on just 103 balls.
Youngster Nasir Jamshed also following the foot steps of his partner, Hafeez, scored his first century. He smashed nine fours for his hundred.
Pakistan lost both the openers in back to back overs during batting power play. Hafeez scored 105 while Jamshed made 112.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq the toss and elected to bat first. Indian missed a chance once to break the partnership when Jamshed was standing at 69 runs. Sachin Tendukar dropped his catch on his own bowling.
Pakistan: 329/6 (50 Overs)
Teams
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz
India: G Gambhir, SR Tendulkar, V Kohli, RG Sharma, SK Raina, MS Dhoni, YK Pathan, IK Pathan, R Ashwin, P Kumar, AB Dinda
India has to defeat Pakistan to stay alive in the tournament. If it wins, the berth in the summit clash would be set in stone and India will have to hope for Sri Lanka to defeat Bangladesh and rely on various permutations in the points table.
Asia Cup Statistics:
Both teams have faced each other nine times in the Asia Cup, each winning four games.
India have the better head-to-head record in matches played in Bangladesh, winning five and losing three.
What Pakistani Cricket Gurus Say:
Former Pakistani skipper and wicket keeper Rashid Latif views Pakistan as favorite in Sunday’s match.
“Pakistan has potential of performing both in bowling and batting while India team is suffering from bad patch at the moment,” Rashid, who runs a cricket academy at Karachi, said while talking with media.
“Whenever Pakistan and India play against each other there is lot of tension and the atmosphere is electrifying and this naturally affects the people on both sides of the border. I would advise players to be very careful about how they behave on the field during the match,” said former great Javed Miandad.
Pakistani Prime Minister’s directives:
Pakistani prime minister has directed the electricity supplying companies to stop load-shadding during the Pakistan-India match.
Pitch and conditions
Despite the rain on Saturday evening, the forecast for Sunday suggests a full game will be possible.
In general, the pitches have become better for batting in the evening, and the team defending a target will also have to watch out for possible dew. After Bangladesh’s heist, the captains may back their teams to chase down any target.
Extra Point:
Death Anniversary of Pakistan cricket team’s former coach Bob Woolmer, who died suddenly in Jamaica, just a few hours after the Pakistan team’s unexpected elimination at the hands of Ireland in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
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