India 167 (MS Dhoni 36, Suresh Raina 31, Saeed Ajmal 5-24) beat Pakistan 157 (Misbah-Ul-Haq 39, Nasir Jamshed 34, Ishant Sharma 3-36) by 10 runs.

A superb bowling by the Indian bowlers supported by an awesome ground fielding defended a low score as the hosts won the first game of the series vs. Pakistan.

The Blue Shirts brought in Ajinkya Rahane and the right arm medium fast bowler, Shami Ahmed, made a debut whereas Umar Akmal replaced Azhar Ali for the Green Shirts.

India scored 167 runs when their innings was squeezed in 43.4 overs and the innings of Pakistan was folded back for 157 with seven balls to spare.

MS Dhoni (India) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his courageous batting and excellent captaincy in the game.

Nasir Jamshed (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the series’ for his tremendous batting. He was the highest run scorer by hammering 241 runs at a giant average of 120.50, the best of 106 with two centuries.

The third and final One Day International of the series was played on Sunday, January 6, 2013, at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

MS Dhoni, the captain of India, won the toss and elected to bat first on a placid wicket. The innings was opened by the seasoned Gautam Gambhir, along with the youngster, Ajinkya Rahane, and they got nine runs in the third over with 2 fours. The lanky fast bowler, Mohammad Irfan, brought the first breakthrough for the visitors when Rahane was caught behind by the wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal for just four runs. The first wicket fell at 19, that brought in Virat Kohli to face the music and he survived many deadly deliveries especially from Junaid Khan.

The batsmen added 10 runs to the score when Gautam Gambhir was gone for 15 and the new comer Yuvraj Singh initiated his innings with 2 back to back fours. The out of form Kohli was caught smartly by Younis Khan in the second slip off Junaid Khan for seven runs. The Men in Blue were once again in trouble at 3-37 after 9.3 overs as Suresh Raina got together with Yuvraj Singh and they reached 43 after 14 overs. The next over from Umar Gul produced 18 runs with 3 fours but Mohammad Hafeez clean bowled Yuvraj Singh for 23 off even balls with 4 fours.

MS Dhoni once again walked in the centre when his team was under immense pressure and he tried to put some life in the innings with Raina. The latter hit the first six of the match in the 20^th over followed by a couple of huge sixes by Dhoni off Mohammad Hafeez eight overs later as the score went past the hundred runs mark. Saeed Ajmal struck twice in the next over as Suresh Raina was declared leg before wicket for 31 off 60 with 1 six and 2 fours on the fourth ball of the 29^th over. Ravichandran Ashwin followed him in an identical fashion for a duck on the very next ball as Ravindra Jadeja joined in with Dhoni who became the next victim for 36 off 55 deliveries with 3 huge sixes and 1 four.

Jadeja was the other notable batsman who scored 27 runs as the entire Indian team was bowled out for 167 with 26 balls to spare.

Saeed Ajmal was the star performer with the ball and grabbed his career’s best figures of 5-24. Mohammad Irfan got two whereas Junaid Khan, Umar Gul and Mohammad Hafeez shared one wicket each.

Pakistan promoted Kamran Akmal up in the order to open the innings in place of Mohammad Hafeez who suffered an injury while fielding. Nasir Jamshed faced the first ball as the young bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed started with an excellent spell. Kumar made an instant impact when Kamran Akmal was held lbw without opening his account and Younis Khan played on a ball on to his stumps. The Green Shirts were struggling at 2-14 in 6.5 overs as their skipper, Misbah-Ul-Haq, took guard in the centre.

The run rate was controlled by the Men in Blue and quite a few overs ended as a maiden while Nasir Jamshed kept on living dangerously at his end. The visitors scored 29 runs after 14 overs and got a four each in the next three overs. The first fifty of the innings was recorded in the 18^th over as Nasir Jamshed gifted his wicket while trying to sweep and was adjudged lbw off Ravichandran Ashwin for 34 from 64 with 5 fours. Umar Akmal came in next as Misbah-Ul-Haq got a lucky break when he was dropped at 27 behind the stumps by MS Dhoni off Ravindra Jadeja on the last delivery of the 24^th over.

The first hundred of the innings appeared on the screen in the 31^st over and the important fifty runs partnership for the fourth wicket was attained in the 34^th over as the score went past 111 runs. Misbah- Ul-Haq was caught by Ajinkya Rahane at the leg slip off Ashwin on the first ball of the 35^th over for 39 scored from 82 balls with 4 fours as the score touched 113. Shoaib Malik was gone for just five runs and Umar Akmal was stumped smartly by Dhoni off Jadeja for 25 as Pakistan still required 43 runs to win the match in 64 balls with four wickets left.

Mohammad Hafeez was dropped at seven by Rahane in the leg slip off Ashwin in the 42^nd over as Umar Gul kept on crawling from his end. The target was reduced to 24 from even balls as Umar Gul became the seventh victim after scoring 11 runs. Shami Ahmed earned his first wicket in international cricket when he removed Saeed Ajmal for a duck on the second ball of the 48^th over as Dhoni got his 200^th catch behind the wickets. Mohammad Hafeez was the last batsman dismissed for 21 as Pakistan managed 157 runs in 48.5 overs.

India won the nail biting match with a narrow margin of 10 runs and avoided a whitewash whereas Pakistan clinched the three ODI series 2-1.