India v Pakistan

At Kochi, April 2, 2005. India won by 87 runs. Toss: India.

It hardly matters if Sehwag gets five days or 50 overs: an audacious 95-ball 108 contained all his signature elements. Pakistan dropped him off the first ball of the innings, and again on eight; in between, India lost Tendulkar and Ganguly to successive deliveries. As Sehwag repaired the damage with Dravid, his first fifty came off a tranquil 55 balls, his second off a rowdy 29. Dravid's own meticulous hundred took 50 balls longer. Together, they put on 201, an Indian third-wicket record against Pakistan, in stifling heat. Pakistan set off at seven an over, but three wickets in three overs, two to Balaji and all to injudicious shots, turned the game on its head. When Inzamamul- Haq was bowled by a delightfully angled quicker ball from Tendulkar at 112, the game was effectively settled. Almost irrelevantly, Tendulkar picked up five wickets - for the second time in a Kochi international - with a beguiling mix of long-hops and full tosses, enthusiastically delivered from round the wicket.

Man of the Match: V. Sehwag.