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Victorious skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said 300 was not enough to defend on the National Stadium's benign track and he was not much surprised as his side knocked down the target set by Pakistan with 7.5 overs to spare.
Pakistan rode on captain Shoaib Malik's 125 to set India 300 but Dhoni's team made the chase look like a stroll in the park and cruised to 301 four 4 in 42.1 overs. Dhoni said Pakistan probably fell 40-50 runs short. "I always knew that a target of 300 here was always chase-able. The track was fantastic, one of the best in Pakistan. All we needed was a good start...maybe 340-350 would have been the right score. Besides, they lost Umar Gul (who bowled only 1.2 overs before leaving the field with rib muscle injury) and it was hard luck for Shoaib," Dhoni said.
Though a final berth is no more a worry for the side, Dhoni insisted he wanted to win all the games. "We have to win all our matches for we want to carry the momentum to the final. I'm happy with the bowlers' performance, while the batsmen are also on song. We did drop a couple of catches but it happens at times," he said.
Dhoni's Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Malik was quite upset and he rued Umar Gul's injury which took the sting off the hosts' attack. "I thought 299 was a good total but when you lose your key bowler, it's always very difficult to come back. And with (Virender) Sehwag and (Suresh) Raina on song, we just could not stop them. They just kept going on and on," he lamented.
Raina, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his quickfire 69-ball 84, said it was a pleasure to bat along with Sehwag who slammed 119 off just 95 balls. "It was a superb experience to see him from the other end. His shots were simply mind-blowing. He himself was enjoying batting there and he told me to play my natural game whenever there was a loose ball."