Pakistan 570 (Younis 267, Inzamam 184, Harbhajan 6-152) and 261 for 2 dec (Younis 84*, Hameed 76, Afridi 58) beat India 449 (Sehwag 201, Laxman 79*, Kaneria 5-127) and 214 (Gambhir 52, Afridi 3-13) by 168 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

On a thrilling final day that went all the way down to the wire, Pakistan defied the odds at Bangalore and pulled off a magnificent series-levelling victory, taking all ten Indian wickets – the last one falling with just six overs left in the day – and winning by 168 runs. Shahid Afridi was the star performer with the ball for Pakistan, taking three middle-order wickets for 13, but every member of the team played his part in a famous victory.It was Pakistan’s second remarkable fifth-day effort of the series, after the staunch resistance offered by Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq at Mohali, and the 1-1 result was just reward for the fighting qualities displayed by Pakistan all series. It is a result that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on Pakistani cricket.A draw was still the most likely result when the day began, with Pakistan not appearing to have the ammunition to bowl the entire Indian line-up out in 90 overs. And when India went to lunch at 103 for 1, they were comfortably placed to save the game. But Pakistan struck just after lunch, claiming the wicket of Gautam Gambhir for 52 (108 for 2). And then Arshad Khan, recalled to the team for this series after more than four years out of Test cricket, claimed the most important wicket of his career, having Rahul Dravid snapped up at silly point (118 for 3).All this while Afridi, who produced an incendiary half-century yesterday to set up the declaration for Pakistan, had been straining at the bit, firing in his mixture of legbreaks, offbreaks and topspinners and from time to time advertising his impatience with these subtleties with a faster ball that made Akmal wince with pain every time it beat the bat.Now he struck two decisive blows to break open the Indian batting, trapping VVS Laxman in front with a quick skidding delivery (127 for 4), and then comprehensively bowling Sourav Ganguly with a breakback that beat Ganguly’s optimistic drive (135 for 5). Ganguly, stunned, hung around the crease for quite a while, as if wishing to turn time back one ball and not play the same stroke this time around.India’s hopes now rested on Sachin Tendulkar, the last man left from the top six, and for a while Tendulkar batted magisterially. Neither Afridi’s variations, nor the varied words he let the batsman hear after each ball, seemed to trouble him, and he struck majestic poses in defence, offering a dead bat to virtually everything. But almost on the stroke of tea Mohammad Sami surprised Tendulkar with a short ball that he fended off his face, and the heart of every man on the field was in his mouth as Asim Kamal at short leg reached for the ball, seemed to pouch it in one hand, and then juggled it and spilled the chance.Pakistan must have gone into tea with a sinking feeling in their hearts, but on resumption their spirits seemed to have flagged not one jot, and Sami quickly struck again by uprooting Dinesh Karthik’s offstump with a full inswinger (164 for 6).But it was in the next over that Pakistan struck the killer blow, Afridi getting one to lift on Tendulkar and loop to short leg off the inside edge. This time Kamal made no mistake (164 for 7).

If India succeeded into taking the game as far into the evening as they did, it was because of some staunch resistance from Anil Kumble, who rounded off a wonderful series with the bat – he was dismissed just once in five innings – by making an unbeaten 37. Kumble managed to play out nine overs with Irfan Pathan and another five overs with Harbhajan Singh, and Pakistan were just beginning to worry again after he saw out another five overs with Lakshmipathy Balaji when Balaji padded up to Danish Kaneria and was adjudged lbw.When all was over, it seemed remarkable that there was one stage in the morning when Virender Sehwag and Gambhir skipped along at four an over, and Sehwag seemed to be entertaining thoughts of actually going for the target. This remote possibility was shut out when he was run out in a misunderstanding with Gambhir, and after that, as has happened so often this season, the runs dried up completely and Pakistan were able to surround the batsmen with close fielders.India could be justifiably criticised for going too much on the defensive after lunch and playing into Pakistan’s hands, but it has to be granted that runs by this stage had ceased to matter – in fact, this was precisely for this reason that Inzamam-ul-Haq delayed his declaration yesterday and let his batsmen amass such a big lead.The truth was that Pakistan wanted victory urgently, pushed for it on every day of this Test match, and finally – after five days of sapping, often nervewracking cricket, and with shadows falling on the final day – left the field with their heads held high.How they were out
Responded to Gambhir’s call for a single and was left stranded when his partner changed his mind.
Played across a full-length delivery from Sami.
Played forward to a sharp offbreak and was well-taken at silly point off pad and bat.
Was caught half-forward by a full delivery that skidded on.
Was suckered into a drive at a wide ball that turned and bowled him through a yawning gate.
Failed to bring his bat down on a late inswinger that sent his off-stump cartwheeling.
Could not keep down a ball that kicked a little and was caught at short leg.
Played the ball down defensively but it popped off his boot and was caught at silly point.
Jabbed at a legbreak and was caught at silly mid-off.
Offered no stroke to Kaneria and was given out, though the ball seemed to be heading past off stump.

The final Test in Antigua set a record or two – never before have eight individual hundreds been scored in one match, and that’s not counting the six bowlers who conceded three figures – but it was over as a contest and as meaningful entertainment long before the end of the fifth day.The problem was the pitch, which was as flat as a freshly-tarmaced road but one which offered marginally less reward to bowlers. The same could be said of the Antigua Test last year. The two most recent Tests at the Recreation Ground have produced 2720 runs and 37 wickets; this year, there were 1462 runs and 17 wickets.And spare a thought for Makhaya Ntini, who slogged away for 33 overs for his one wicket, and then watched as two wicketkeepers with no pretentions to being bowlers took three between them. AB de Villiers grabbed 2 for 49 as even West Indies grew weary of batting, and then Mark Boucher took his first wicket with his eighth ball in Test cricket.Andy Roberts, Antigua’s first Test player and someone who has been involved in pitch preparation at St John’s for more than a decade, said the two games were played on different tracks. “This particular pitch has not been used for a couple of years now,” he admitted. “In fact, I have been told the last time it was used was when Brian Lara scored his 375 against England in 1994.”Five-day matches need to offer something to both batsman and bowler. This strip of concrete was so unchanging that the match could have been extended to 10 days and a result would probably have still not been forthcoming.The authorities, in a bid to placate television companies, are looking to come up with pitches which will last. While low-scoring matches are often high on drama, they leave TV executives with too many hours of empty space to fill and rob the grounds of valuable income.Roberts said that his hands were tied and that as the West Indies board only allowed that strip to be used once a year, he could do little to improve its pace and bounce. His frustration was evident before the game. When asked by a reporter how he expected the pitch to play, he replied: “It is very difficult to make a prediction … as we haven’t played cricket here in Antigua for the year, so I have nothing to judge how it will play on.”Whatever the reasons, something needs to be done to redress the balance at St John’s, otherwise even the cricket-mad Antiguans will start to stay away from matches which are anything but contests.

Ian Harvey, the Yorkshire and former Australia allrounder, has revealed he will consider an offer to play South African domestic cricket next summer when he receives his contract proposal this week.Harvey’s manager Tony Box confirmed negotiations with Victoria, his Australian state, had reached an impasse and that Harvey was seriously considering playing for Western Province Boland – alongside the South Africa captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs – after the English season.Harvey, 33, has been offered only a 12-month contract at a reduced rate by Victoria for next season, after he had asked for a two-year deal. “The beauty about South Africa is their season corresponds with the Australian domestic season,” Box told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper. “It would mean Ian could continue to play English county cricket.”Harvey has played 73 ODIs for Australia, but lost his place after their brief tour of Zimbabwe in 2004. Last season, for Victoria, he scored 434 runs at 36 and took 21 wickets at 28 apiece from nine Pura Cup matches. He is currently playing for Yorkshire, and is averaging 43 with the bat and 33 with the ball in the Championship.

Muttiah Muralitharan’s enforced layoff after shoulder surgery has prompted him to focus his attention on a global fundraising mission for a charitable trust designed to help disadvantaged rural communities in Sri Lanka.Muralitharan first travelled to England to wrap up his deal with Lancashire and participate in a charity evening at the Shenley Cricket Centre. He has now arrived in Canada to attend two felicitation-cum-fundraiser events in Ottawa and Toronto on October 8 and 9. Money will be raised through the auction of personal cricket memorabilia.Muralitharan will return to Sri Lanka next week, and will then visit Jaffna in early November as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Programme, before flying to Australia in mid-November for a check-up with Dr David Young, the surgeon who operated on his bowling shoulder in August.His focus on charity work – which provides a glimpse of his life after cricket – follows the setting up of the Muralidaran & Gunasekera Foundation two years ago. The foundation is currently involved in 90 humanitarian community projects in Sri Lanka, with many more in the pipeline.Muralitharan remains hopeful of being fit in time for Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in December, contrary to some media reports which suggested that his comeback has been delayed, and has stepped up his rehabilitation programme. He will not resume bowling again, though, until after his meeting with Dr Young.

The crown may sit slightly uncomfortably for Shane Warne, but before he collected the world record he was already Australian bowling’s king. Warne deferred to Dennis Lillee before the second Test, saying “DK” would always be the country’s greatest, but a coronation that started when he passed his hero in sleepy Auckland in 2000 is now complete.Lillee’s 355 wickets sat in the throne for three years, until they were passed by Richard Hadlee, and Warne’s reign could be over in a couple of months. But Warne changed the game in a way Lillee never could. Where Lillee incited, Warne excited. Lillee’s legion charged in, wore headbands, flicked off sweat with their fingers and got wickets. Warne’s disciples tried to spin the ball metres and struggled to land it on the pitch. After Lillee came McDermott, Hughes, McGrath and Gillespie. After Warne there is Cameron White, whose spin is more like Anil Kumble’s than his Victoria team-mate’s.Warne has inspired playgrounds full of flippers, but researchers can find nothing nearing a clone. A soccer striker can pot goals at will from inside the area, but very few can curl the ball in regularly from 30 yards. Over 22 yards, Warne has changed the way Australians watch the game and revived interest in an art that had been dying since the days of Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O’Reilly.Early in his career he was gazed at because he was stunningly different to the pace monotony. Later he was monitored to see if the magic remained after long absences with serious shoulder, finger and diuretic issues. Yet, he still kept swallowing milestones: Paul Wiseman to pass Lillee, Alec Stewart for 400, Hashan Tillakaratne for 500 and Upul Chandana, in Cairns, to equal Muttiah Muralitharan on 527.But 533 was the one he – and everyone else – was waiting for. Losing the plot in the first Test as he pushed too hard for history, Warne stepped out on his own when Irfan Pathan edged to Matthew Hayden in the first session. With a regal air he collected the ball from David Shepherd and waved it to the crowd. However, the new status did not prevent a pounding from Virender Sehwag, who he eventually had caught in the deep. India have always troubled him.

Beginning against them in 1991-92, Warne must have wondered if he’d ever get a Test wicket. A podgy 22-year-old who had been booted from the Academy, he was pasted all over the SCG by Ravi Shastri, who became his only wicket alongside 150 runs. But he kept ripping the ball with his strong wrists and foiled a late charge by Sri Lanka when they threatened to sneak away in 1992. Back in Australia he introduced his flipper against West Indies and the Ball of the Century to Mike Gatting turned his career. The wattle-blond bombshell had arrived.”Hollywood” was an early nickname and everyone tuned in to see what the blockbuster would do next. He once complained his life was a soap opera. Raking through the closets of Ramsay Street’s Dr Karl and Summer Bay’s Alf Stewart could never create so much interest. Drug scandals followed hat-tricks, lewd text messages were sent with the same fingers delivering mystery balls. Potty-mouthed sledging was heard on microphones and he was often overweight. Photographers camped outside his house and followed his children to school whenever he was required for the front pages instead of the back.Through it all he continued to plot wickets and retired from the one-day game, prolonging his career in whites and his attack on the world record. While losing the mark to Muralitharan seems inevitable, it will take somebody extra-special – more talented, more engaging, more prolific than Lillee, Miller or McGrath – to knock off Warne as Australia’s greatest bowler.

Guyana 213 for 5 (Chanderpaul 87*) beat Trinidad & Tobago 210 for 7 (D Ganga 101*) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

In a match dominated by the two captains, both of whom batted at No. 3, Shivnarine Chanderpaul prevailed over Daren Ganga, primarily due to a better display from his support cast. Chanderpaul struck an unbeaten 87 to guide Guyana to a five-wicket win after Ganga had made a superb 101 not out to lift Trinidad and Tobago to 210.The pitch at the Albion Community Centre lacked pace and bounce, requiring the batsmen to show plenty of patience. Ganga did just that, retrieving the T&T innings after they had lost two early wickets to slump to 10 for 2. Ganga found an able ally in Ricardo Powell, who made 41 and helped add 87 for the fourth wicket. However, the rest of the batting floundered, resulting in a modest target for Guyana.Chanderpaul then took over after the Guyanese openers had put together 55 for the opening wicket. Trinidad had hopes of a fightback when they reduced Guyana to 120 for 4, but Chanderpaul then got together with D Daesrath in a decisive 89-run stand which swung the match their way. The win puts Guyana at the top of the table with eight points after two games.

Essex have denied claims from the Pakistan Cricket Board that they are overusing Danish Kaneria, the legspinner, in the English county championship. Saleem Altaf, the PCB’s director of cricket operations, said that he would write to Essex asking that he be bowled more sparingly.”We want them to nurse him through the season as we have a lot of cricket coming up from November,” Altaf told Reuters. Kaneria, who is in his second season with Essex, bowled 64 overs taking 8 for 157 against Northamptonshire, then set a championship record with 70 wicketless overs in an innings against Lancashire a week ago.However, Ronnie Irani, the Essex captain, refuted allegations that Kaneria was being made the team’s workhorse. “They’ve no need to tell us to look after him,” Irani told The Telegraph. “We’ve done everything we possibly can for him and his family from day one and we’ll continue to look after him, on and off the field. He’s fit and he’s keen. I wasn’t going to bowl him in the last session at Old Trafford, but he wanted to. It should be down to him and how he feels – ultimately the player’s interest is No 1.”Pakistan host England for three Tests and five one-day internationals in November, and take on India in three Tests and five one-day internationals early next year before proceeding to Sri Lanka and England.

Muttiah Muralitharan has embarked upon a short tour of the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka’s northern areas on behalf of the United Nations World Food Programme to raise awareness of the suffering caused by a two-decade-long war.Muralitharan visited the northern Tamil city of Jaffna on Monday and then Kilinochchi – the political and administrative base of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), the separatist group that has been fighting the civil war with the government – on Tuesday, followed by Vavuniya on Wednesday.Having met with a senior Tamil Tiger political leader for over an hour, Muralitharan called on the Sri Lanka government to take the initiative in the stalled peace talks to get both sides talking once more and find a permanent solution to a bloody civil war that has left thousands dead and millions in poverty.”As a sportsmen, all I can say is that Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims come together to play cricket side by side,” Muralitharan told Reuters. “Likewise, the politicians and the LTTE must come together and make peace for the good of this country’s people. The LTTE is willing to come to the peace table and the people of the south want peace. The government should fulfil their wishes and come for negotiations.”Muralitharan, Sri Lanka’s most famous Tamil, was given a heroes reception when he visited a school being rebuilt after war damage. He has concentrated on charity work since a shoulder operation sidelined him from international cricket in August. He had only just returned from a global tour to drum up funds for his own charity, the Gunasekera-Muralidaran Foundation, which he set-up with his close friend and agent, Kushil Gunasekera, a former cricket board official.Next week, Muralitharan’s jet-setting lifestyle will continue as he travels to London for two days on the invitation of the government to help promote Sri Lanka at the World Travel Mart. This will be followed by a quick stop in Seoul to pick-up an award having been judged an “Asian Hero” by magazine.Muralitharan will then fly to Australia to meet his surgeon, Dr David Young, to get an update on his shoulder’s recovery, which has so far progressed smoothly. He remains confident of returning for Sri Lanka’s next tour to New Zealand and is targeting the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington starting on January 22.

Scorecard

Michael Hussey won the match award for his 60 in a rain-affected ING Cup game that seemed Victoria’s for much of the day, only for them to lose the plot and allow Western Australia to clinch victory by four runs.The game was shortened to a 24-over-a-side encounter after rain and a wet ground delayed the start. Cameron White then won the toss and chose to field. Soon Western Australia were 4 for 44, and White’s decision to insert the opposition was justified. However, Hussey scored runs rapidly, and he was aided by Kade Harvey, who made 19 in 19 balls. Hussey hit three fours and two sixes, and Jonathon Moss and White came in for severe punishment. Moss conceded 31 in four overs, while White gave away 35 in five.Victoria were on course for victory when rain came and affected the game further. They were 1 for 37 in 7.2 overs when their innings was reduced to 19 overs and the target to 108. Matthew Elliott reached his fifty and was partnered by Brad Hodge, who scored 28. However, both fell within three balls of each other (3 for 97). At that point, Victoria needed 11 runs in seven balls, a task that proved beyond them due to controlled bowling by Harvey, who conceded only three runs in the last over.

Alarmed at Harbhajan Singh airing his opinion of the spat between Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappell earlier today, the BCCI has asked all contracted Indian players to keep quiet on the issue.The board cautioned them that any behaviour to the contrary would amount to a breach of contract. As well as contracted players, the release was sent to those who were on the recent tour to Zimbabwe and the Indian team’s support staff.A media release issued by BCCI secretary S Nair from Thirvananthapuram said the board has “appealed to all cricketers under its contract, as well as those who were selected for the tour of Zimbabwe and the support staff of the team, to exercise restraint.”In the gagging order, Nair said: “Your kind attention is invited to the relevant provision of the letter of selection that was issued to you prior to the tour to Zimbabwe in August 2005, or the contract entered between you and the board.”You are aware that the board has constituted a committee to review the performance of the Indian team and the role of all concerned. The committee is scheduled to meet on September 27, 2005 at Mumbai.”In view of this, you are adviced to apply restraint and not make any comments to the media that affects the interest of Indian cricket.”