India and Pakistan have played 126 one-day internationals in more than three decades. AFP Sports looks at five memorable matches ahead of Sunday’s World Cup clash in Adelaide:
1. March 22, 1985, Sharjah (India won by 38 runs)
Pakistani paceman Imran Khan had virtually put his team in a winning position when he grabbed 6-14 off 10 overs to bowl India out for a paltry 125 in a Four-Nations Cup match. But India, led by fast bowler Kapil Dev (3-17), dismissed Pakistan for 87 to clinch a low-scoring thriller. India had just won the world championships of cricket in Melbourne to build on its 1983 World Cup triumph.
2. April 18, 1986, Sharjah (Pakistan won by one wicket)
A match no fan on either side of the border will forget. Pakistan, needing four runs off the last ball to lift the Australasia Cup, sailed through as Javed Miandad pulled a full toss from seamer Chetan Sharma for six. Instantly, Miandad became a national hero and Sharma was reduced to facing barbs and insults on his return home. Pakistan dominated India for a long time in their desert duels after that game.
3. March 1, 2003, Centurion (India won by six wickets)
The World Cup match was as much about India v Pakistan as about Sachin Tendulkar v Shoaib Akhtar. Tendulkar smashed a 75-ball 98 to help his team achieve a stiff 274-run target. Pakistani fast bowler Akhtar bagged just one wicket, that of Tendulkar, while conceding 72 runs in his 10 overs. Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar (101) was the only batsman to score a century in the match.
4. March 13, 2004, Karachi (India won by five runs)
India’s first full tour of Pakistan in 15 years began on a rousing note with a thrilling finish in the first one-day international at the jam-packed National Stadium in Karachi. Set a tough chase of India’s 349-7, the hosts rode on a brilliant 122 off 102 balls from skipper Inzamam-ul Haq to make a spirited reply to leave them needing a six off the final ball. But as Miandad watched from the dressing room as Pakistan’s coach, Moin Khan holed out in the deep to hand India a narrow win.
5. March 2, 2014, Dhaka (Pakistan won by one wicket)
The most recent one-day match between the two arch-rivals produced a thriller during the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. Pakistan appeared to be cruising when they needed 11 off the last 10 balls with four wickets in hand to overtake India’s 245-8. But three wickets fell quickly and it came down to nine runs off the last four deliveries from Ravichandran Ashwin. Shahid Afridi showed why he is one of the most destructive batsmen in the game when he smashed the next two balls for sixes to take Pakistan home. (AFP)
