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Shoaib Malik led his team from the front through an all-round show that helped his side clinch the final ODI at Jaipur by a comfortable margin. It was just a consolation victory for the Pakistanis having already lost the series during the fourth ODI. But this victory came despite the absence of two of their best players in Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar. Pakistan did most of the things right in this final ODI while India lacked the seriousness especially in its top order batsmen.

MS Dhoni had won the toss to put Pak to bat first to guard his bowlers against the dew factor. Both sides made wholesale changes with the Indians giving debut to UP's all rounder Praveen Kumar who was given the new ball straightaway. Pakistan gave debut to 20-yeard-old rookie wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed after the team management decided to axe Kamran Akmal. The Indian debutant Praveen Kumar began with a maiden and continued to bowl on a tight leash but as time went by he was tested by a solid opening partnership between Salman Butt and Imran Nazir. Both played their shots with utmost ease to give Pakistan the best start of the series. It was Sreesanth's second spell that brought the Indians back on track. He took as many as three wickets in his second spell which started off with a clever bouncer that got the miscued hit from Salman Butt (36 from 49 with 6 fours), an away going delivery that had the lift to catch the edge off Yasir Hameed (1) and then a back of the hand slower delivery that Imran Nazir (20 from 40 with 3 fours) played straight back to the fast bowler.

Pak were in a spot of bother at 77 for 3 in the 17th over but the pitch was so good that the batsmen could bring their side back from trouble into a commanding position. The classy Yousuf and Malik did just that, they occupied the crease and soon found their shots traveling away quickly to the boundaries. It was absolutely smooth sailing for the pair as they provided their side with a perfect launching pad. The two batsmen however fell at the wrong time, both outsmarted by the left arm spin of Murali Kartik and Yuvraj Singh that gave a couple of stumpings for MS Dhoni. Malik first fell to Murali Kartik after making 89 in 82 with 6 fours and two sixes. Yousuf was taken by Yuvraj after the right hander had played a fabulous innings of 74 in 82 with 4 fours. Pak were already 261 for 5 in 44 overs at the fall of these two players. They ended up at 306 for 6 with a surprise package coming in from Fawad Alam, who was only playing his first ODI against India. The left hander played a breezy cameo of 32 not out from 23 balls with 2 fours and a six combining well with Misbah-ul-Haq, who made 22 from 17 with a boundary and a six. Praveen Kumar on debut had a mix bag, going wicketless conceding 50 runs in his 10 overs but he did show promise in moving the ball both ways.

The target was not so big for the Indians as they had batsmen in form. Pakistan therefore had to rely on making inroads as the dew would soon make it tough for the bowlers to grip the ball. Sohail Tanvir did just that first removing Gautam Gambhir (12) by catching him in the crease and then a clever bowling change from Shoaib Malik did the trick with Iftikhar Anjum producing a couple of outside edges from Robin Uthappa (1) with one being dropped while the other taken by the first slip fielder Misbah-ul-Haq. Pak still had plenty of work ahead with Tendulkar still in the middle playing his shots. A rash and an overconfident shot saw the downfall of the little master with Sohali Tanvir taking his revenge after getting smacked for three fours in the same over. Tendulkar had by then raced away to 30 from just 27 with 6 fours. In the 12th over, Virender Sehwag (10) turned his back to the pavilion playing a reckless cut shot to give catching practice to the new keeper - Sarfraz Ahmed. India were now in deep trouble at 62 for 4 in the 12th over.

Rohit Sharma grabbed the opportunity to try and become a hero infront of a packed house at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. He played with lot of freedom, feeling no pressure at all while getting India back on track to chase the big target. After getting to his maiden fifty, Rohit Sharma holed out to long on trying to accelerate things. He made a well paced 52 from 61 balls with 3 fours and a six to take his team to 143 for 5 after 28 overs. The stage was set for a great partnership between Yuve and MSD to steer India to a difficult chase. Just when both were about to set tone for that an ankle injury to the Indian Captain broke the rhythm of the game. But it was a dubious decision from Umpire Suresh Shastri that brought curtains to the partnership with Yuvraj given caught behind off the shoulder off an Umar Gul bouncer. Yuvraj made exactly 50 facing 62 balls with 3 fours and a six. The death blow for India came in the 38th over when MS Dhoni (24 from 32 with 1 fours) miscued one up in the air off Malik. The match was as good as over at this stage with India at 195 for 7. The margin of defeat was reduced to 31 thanks to Irfan Pathan's 43 (in 39 balls with 4 fours and a six). India got bowled out in 49.5 overs for 275. Tanvir was the bowling hero with 4 for 53 in 9.5 overs while it was Malik doubling up his batting efforts with 3 for 61 in 10 overs to get the Man of the Match. The Man of the Series was Yuvraj Singh for his consistently good all-round efforts.

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