Pakistan were looking to level things up, while India were aiming to put the ODI series beyond reach, when the two sides met for the fourth ODI, in Multan.
India drew first blood when they won the toss and chose to field. And they soon had Pakistan in trouble, dismissing first Kamran Akmal and then taking three wickets in the space of 10 balls to reduce them to 29/4.
It was left to captain Inzamam ul-Haq to lead the recovery, initially in the company of Mohammad Yousuf. The pair put on 68 for the fifth wicket until Yousuf was caught behind for 25.
Inzamam then added 27 with Imran Farhat, but the latter was dismissed for 14. Having held the innings together, Inzamam was finally trapped leg before by Sachin Tendulkar for 49. The tail was able to add only 30 more before the innings came to a premature end in the 42nd over.
Pakistan were bowled out for 161. R.P. Singh took 4-30 and Irfan Pathan 3-26.
India’s reply did not get off to the best of starts when Sachin Tendulkar fell for a duck. Fellow opener Gautam Gambhir scored a quickfire 21, and Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh helped India into a winning position with a stand of 85 for the third wicket.
It was broken when Yuvraj fell for 37. When Mohammad Kaif was out without scoring, there was a brief moment of alarm in the Indian camp.
However, Suresh Raina then combined with Dravid and the tourists cruised towards the finishing line. Dravid was out, leg before, just before the end but the result was a foregone conclusion by then.
With Raina 35 not out at the end, India reached their victory total with more than 17 overs still to be bowled, and with five wickets in hand.