Trailing after the first match in the series, the Indian team moved to Rawalpindi for the second ODI.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat, but lost Salman Butt to the very first ball of the match, caught behind off Irfan Pathan. They soon lost more wickets, slumping to 68/4.
It was left to Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan to reconstruct the innings, which they did with a stand of 102 for the fifth wicket. But just when it seemed like they were set for a big score, a mix-up saw Malik run out for 95. He had faced 110 balls and struck 13 fours.
Younis and Shahid Afridi added 34 before Afridi was out for 18. Then it was Younis’s turn to combine with Abdul Razzaq. The pair added 30 before both were dismissed, Razzaq for 14, and Khan for 81, in 98 balls, with nine fours.
India then wrapped up the innings which came to an end off the second ball of the last over, with Pakistan all out for 265. With 3-43, Irfan was the best of the Indian bowlers, but Pakistan did not helped their own cause by having four men run out.
India got a good start to their response when Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar put on 105 for the first wicket. Tendulkar was out for 42, and Sehwag, who had struck a six and 10 fours, was yet another run out victim, but captain Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh then calmed any Indian nerves with a partnership worth 118 for the third wicket.
Dravid was eventually out for 56, but the task was largely completed by then. Yuvraj, in the company of Mohammad Kaif, knocked off the remaining runs with no further alarm.
India had reached their target for the loss of just three wickets, with more than six overs to spare.
Yuvraj was unbeaten in the end on 82, having faced 89 balls and stuck two sixes and eight fours, but Irfan’s efforts with the ball earned him the Player of the Match award.