After India made history by winning the first Test, Pakistan were desperate to avenge that defeat in the second Test match, in Lahore. And they got their wish with an ultimately decisive victory.
India won the toss and batted, but their top order was undone by Umar Gul, who accounted for four of the top five Indian batters. These included Sachin Tendulkar for 2, Virender Sehwag, the triple centurion from the first Test, for 39.
It was left to Yuvraj Singh to try to rescue things with a counterattacking innings. He was helped by No. 9 Irfan Pathan, with whom he added 117 for the eight wicket. Irfan fell for 49, while Yuvraj was last out for 112, his first Test hundred. He hit two sixes and 15 fours. India were all out for 287, Gul taking 5-31.
Pakistan then put up a strong batting display. Opener Imran Farhat made 101, including 14 fours, and added 110 for the third wicket with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. After Farhat fell, Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf added 151. They fell in quick succession – Inzamam for 118, having racked up 14 fours, and Yousuf for 72.
Asim Kamal then kept the scoreboard ticking along with 73, despite lacking sustained support from the tail. Pakistan still established a healthy lead by the time they were all out for 489.
India needed a good start in their second innings, but, instead, were soon struggling at 105/5. The exception was Sehwag, who held things together with 90. Parthiv Patel went on to make an unbeaten 62, but ran out of partners, as India were all out for 241 second time round. Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria took three wickets each.
Pakistan were left with the simple task of scoring 40 runs to win the match. They did that for the loss of just one wicket.