What would have brought a massive cheer to the India camp, apart from Yuvraj Singh's blitzkrieg, is their bowlers' showing in the death overs.
Having come under fire for succumbing to pressure in crunch moments, the bowlers won India the game in the last two overs that was pretty much hanging in balance until then.
Ashok Dinda, who conceded the last-ball six to Eoin Morgan against England, thwarted the Pakistan charge with two superb overs in the end.
"Indian bowlers did their basics well today, which they have been struggling to get right in the last few games. Dinda, especially, was exceptional. The two overs he bowled in the end, especially the penultimate over where he picked up two wickets, took the game away from us," said Mohammad Hafeez.
Yuvraj, too, was full of praise for Dinda.
"Death bowlers have a difficult job. Batsmen are set and trying to swing. Dinda bowled really well, he got his yorkers in. Bhuvneshwar also carried on well from the last game. He's a new young talent for India and he'll only get better. Ishant took the responsibility to bowl the final over. I think they showed that they've learned their lessons from the previous games," said Yuvraj.
The decision to play with four specialist bowlers by including R Ashwin in place of Ravindra Jadeja also worked out well. Ashwin pulled back the Pakistan openers a bit after the field restrictions were lifted. "We could not accelerate as much as we would have wanted to in the period between the sixth and 10th over," said Hafeez.
{{/usCountry}}The decision to play with four specialist bowlers by including R Ashwin in place of Ravindra Jadeja also worked out well. Ashwin pulled back the Pakistan openers a bit after the field restrictions were lifted. "We could not accelerate as much as we would have wanted to in the period between the sixth and 10th over," said Hafeez.
{{/usCountry}}That the dew didn't play as big a part here as it did in Bangalore also must have helped the India bowlers.
Dhoni praises effort
Ians Adds: Captain Dhoni too was all praise for his young bowlers, especially Dinda and Ishant.
"A lot depends on the youngsters bowling the last overs, I think they held their nerve nicely. They were feeling the pressure but they responded really well and executed the yorkers. When they wanted to bowl slower ones they did that," said Dhoni.
The India captain also lauded his batsmen. "We got off to a very good start from Gautam and Jinks (Rahane) ... Yuvi was at his best, those big sixes and fours. We got 10 runs more than what we would have been happy with. Overall it was good competition between the sides," he said.