Sachin helps India clinch series in Gwalior: Cricketnext

Gwalior: On a day that marked his Test debut 18 years ago against Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar guided India to a convincing six-wicket victory over the arch-rivals in the fourth ODI of the Indian Oil Cup here on Thursday.

The win at the Captain Roop Singh stadium helped India wrap up the five-match series with an outing still to go, their first One-Day series win at home in 24 years. Chasing 256, India raked in the required runs in 46.3 overs to give the home side an invincible 3-1 lead.

Tendulkar sealed the win for India with a masterful 97, but failed yet again to break a recent jinx that saw him being dismissed in the 90s for the sixth time this year and the second time in the series.

After the Tendulkar rampage, Mahendra Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh closed the game with an unbroken 101-run partnership.

Yuvraj was at his authoritative best and continued his outstanding run with the bat. He scored a breezy 53 comprising four boundaries and a six while skipper Dhoni eased his way to a run-a-ball 45 which included three boundaries and one six.

India got off to a speedy start as Tendulkar took centre-stage, smashing the Pakistan bowlers to all corners of the ground. The fall of two quick wickets at the other end - that of Sourav Ganguly (five) and Gautam Gambhir (three) - did not deter the little master from bringing out some quality shots from his artillery, getting to his 87th ODI fifty off only 48 deliveries.

A 107-run stand for the third wicket between Tendulkar and comeback man Virender Sehwag put the visitors out of the game. The duo was merciless on the Pakistan bowling, which lacked its usual sting. Sehwag, who looked good for another ODI fifty, was run out for 43.

After sending back Tendulkar for 99 a week ago in Mohali, Umar Gul proved to be his nemesis yet again as the pace-man uprooted the little master's off stump. His sparkling innings included 16 exquisite boundaries.

Earlier, a classy unbeaten 99 by Mohammad Yousuf guided Pakistan to 255-6.

Yousuf, playing the anchor for Pakistan, held the innings together and paced his innings to perfection. After some aggressive running in the middle overs, Yousuf put the long handle to good use, bludgeoning some meaty blows at the death.

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The enigmatic middle-order batsman crafted seven boundaries and two sixes in his 104-ball innings.

Electing to bat, Pakistan got off to a sordid start as a disciplined show by the three Indian pacers early on in the innings did not allow the visitors brisk runs during the crucial power-plays.

RP Singh drew first blood for India when he trapped the in-form Salman Butt off only the second ball of the match.

Skipper Shoaib Malik, who promoted himself up the order after both Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal had failed in the earlier games, added 78 with Younis Khan.

Though the duo held the fort for Pakistan, they struggled to up the tempo as the seamers put a tight leash on the scoring rate. Malik made a sedate 31 before attempting to play an ambitious shot to give Zaheer Khan his 200th ODI wicket.

Younis Khan, who was dropped at six by Dhoni after being circumspect to the pacers, accelerated in fine style once the spinners were introduced. Along with Yousuf, he took the attack to the Indian slow bowlers but Yuvraj Singh broke the seemingly dangerous partnership as he took an easy return catch to send back Younis for 68.

The man with the golden arm, Sourav Ganguly, sent back Afridi when the flamboyant all-rounder had just one run against his name.

At 137-4, Yousuf and Misbah-ul-Haq were left to pick the pieces of the tottering Pakistan innings. The pair displayed maturity and milked the Indian bowling with some lusty shots during a 94-run partnership.

The Indian bowlers came in for some stick in the death overs. Zaheer was the pick of the lot as the Mumbai bowler took two crucial wickets and gave away only 40 runs.

The teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Robin Uthappa.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Salman Butt, Mohammad Yousuf, Youis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Soahil Tanvir, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal.

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