Pakistan crush India to capture series

KARACHI, Wednesday (Reuters) Pakistan crushed India by 341 runs on the fourth day of the third and final test on Wednesday, despite a defiant century by Yuvraj Singh, to win the series 1-0.

Set an improbable victory target of 607, India were bowled out for 265 in just 58.4 overs to hand Pakistan their first series win over India since 1987.

Following drawn matches on flat tracks in Lahore and Faisalabad, the hosts recovered from a first-over Irfan Pathan hat-trick to secure their second series triumph in a row after a 2-0 home win over England at the end of 2005.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who missed the match with a back injury, was delighted with his team's recovery after they were reduced to 39 for six on the opening day. "It shows that we are now playing as a team and the absence of one player should not make a difference. It has been a good home season for us. "After the criticism we got after the first two tests were drawn I am happy the bowlers responded so well on this track," Inzamam said.

Pakistan declared an hour before lunch on 599-7 and their pacemen Mohammad Asif (3-48) and Abdul Razzaq (4-88) combined to run through the Indian order in less than three sessions. After Shoaib Akhtar had captain Rahul Dravid (2) caught behind in the first over, Asif bowled Virender Sehwag (4), Venkatsai Laxman (21) and Sachin Tendulkar (23) in quick succession.

Razzaq decimated the middle order despite a 103-run stand in 120 balls between Yuvraj and former captain Sourav Ganguly (37).

PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS 245 (K. Akmal 113; I. Pathan 5-61) 
INDIA 1ST INNINGS 238 (M. Asif 4-78) 
PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS (Overnight: 511-5) 

S. Butt lbw b Ganguly 			53 
I. Farhat c Tendulkar b Pathan 		57 
Y. Khan lbw b Kumble 			77 
M. Yousuf lbw b Kumble 		97 
F. Iqbal c Tendulkar b Khan 		139 
S. Afridi c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 		60 
A. Razzaq c Y. Singh b Kumble 		90 
K. Akmal not out 			0 

Extras (b-7 lb-7 nb-11 w-1) 		26 

TOTAL (for 7 wickets declared, 140.1 overs) 599 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-109 2-122 3-280 4-318 5-402 6-598 7-599 

BOWLING: I. Pathan 25-3-106-1 (w-1), Z. Khan 28-4-103-1 (nb-3), 
	R. Singh 24-1-115-1, A. Kumble 37.1-3-151-3 (nb-5), S. Ganguly 16-1-68-1 (nb-3), 
	V. Sehwag 1-0-2-0, S. Tendulkar 9-0-40-0. 

INDIA 2ND INNINGS 

V. Sehwag b Asif 			4 
R. Dravid c Akmal b Akhtar 		2 
V. Laxman b Asif 			21 
S. Tendulkar b Asif 			26 
S. Ganguly lbw b Razzaq 		37 
Y. Singh c Akmal b Razzaq 		122 
M. Dhoni c Farhat b Razzaq 		18 
I. Pathan c Iqbal b Razzaq 		4 
A. Kumble c Farhat b Kaneria 		5 
Z. Khan b Kaneria 			10 
R. Singh not out 			0 

Extras (b-7 nb-4 w-5) 			16 

TOTAL (all out, 58.4 overs) 		265 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 2-8 3-63 4-74 5-177 6-208 7-216 8-231 9-251 10-265 
BOWLING: S. Akhtar 8-1-37-1 (nb-1 w-1), M. Asif 12-1-48-3, 
	A. Razzaq 18.4-0-88-4, D. Kaneria 18-0-75-2 (nb-3), S. Afridi 2-0-10-0.