Pakistan had enjoyed the better of things so far during the tour, but it was India’s turn to enjoy success in the third ODI, in Lahore.
Pakistan that won the toss and chose to bat first. Despite them losing early wickets, that choice appeared to be justified when Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad put on an unbeaten 182 for the third wicket. Zaheer made 105 from 82 balls, with a six and eight fours, whilst Miandad got 119 from just 77 balls with three sixes and six fours.
The Pakistan innings curtailed to just 33 overs because of rain. Despite this, they managed to not only chase that down. Sunil Gavaskar set the tone with 69 before K. Srikkanth and Sandeep Patil made useful contributions. By the end of their 27 overs India had reached 193/4. Then it rained again, and it the par score was calculated at 176. India won by 18 runs..
Any Indian joy from that win, though, was short-lived, as they suffered a heavy defeat in the third Test match, in Faisalabad.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field. India initially did well, making 372 in their first innings. Patil top-scored with 84, Syed Kirmani scored 66, and Madan Lal 54 as Imran Khan took 6-98.
However, the runs just flowed when Pakistan batted. Four men – Miandad, Saleem Malik, Imran, and Zaheer – scored hundreds, with the highest individual score of 168.
Their combined efforts helped Pakistan close on 652.
India lost early wickets in their second innings, before Mohinder Amarnath, who would go on to score 78, led a partial recovery, along with Gavaskar. Imran, though, took five more wickets and Sarfraz Nawaz four, as India were all out for 286. However, all 10 wickets fell at the other end, as Gavaskar (127*) became the first Indian to carry his bat in a complete innings in Test cricket.
Pakistan needed just 7 to win, a target they reached without losing a wicket.