Pakistan beat India by 66 runs

Amsterdam, August 21: India's hopes of regaining their awesome batting form of the past season were heavily dented after they failed to overhaul a stiff target and crashed to a 66-run defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan in the opening match of the triangular one-day cricket series here today.

The batting-friendly conditions of the picturesque VRA ground in Amstelveen failed to inspire Sourav Ganguly's men who, chasing a target of 193 in 33 overs, were all out for 127 with more than seven overs to spare.

For Pakistan, the victory reconfirmed their Asia Cup super league win over the Indians whose star-studded line-up was pummelled into submission for the second time.

The Indians, without the services of maestro Sachin Tendulkar after being ruled out of the entire series due to a tennis elbow, had only themselves to blame for the disaster as top batsmen Sourav Ganguly (25) and V V S Laxman (37) failed to build on their starts and the rest of the wickets fell in a heap.

Shahid Afridi's leg-spin caused havoc in Indian innings as he picked up four wickets for 20 runs and Shoaib Malik, the off-spinner, conceded only 18 runs to claim three scalps. (Agencies)

Published: Sunday, August 22, 2004 

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