Dropping Yuvraj cost us the match, rues Malik

"It was a costly drop...The partnership between Yuvi and Dhoni was the turning point of the match," said the visiting captain.

Dropping Yuvraj Singh early in his innings and allowing him to forge a century stand with Mahendra Singh Dhoni cost Pakistan the match, rued visiting captain Shoaib Malik.

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Yuvraj was batting on 26 when he went for a slog-sweep off Malik as the ball went spiralling up and Salman Butt could not hold on to the catch.

Pakistan were made to pay for the folly as Yuvraj went on to slam 77 and add 100 runs for the fourth wicket off 92 balls with Dhoni to power India to an imposing total of 294.

"It was a costly drop. It allowed him to join hands with Dhoni and take upper hand. We were pretty much in control till the 27th-28th over but after that, things just went out of hand. The partnership between Yuvi and Dhoni was the turning point of the match," Malik told a press conference.

He, however, also had a word of praise for Butt, who fought tooth and nail even though his career best 129 was not enough in the end.

"I think if any other batsman could have scored 70-80, we would have won the match. He played well but we did not have partnerships in the middle," the Pakistani skipper said.