Subcontinental arch-rivals India and Pakistan added another fascinating encounter to their long cricket history, as their encounter in the 2010 Asia Cup went down to the wire. In the end, it was India who held their nerve and triumphed, securing a place in the finals against Sri Lanka. Pakistan were left to rue basic fielding mistakes which undid all their hard work with the bat and ball and cost them the match.

Winning the toss, Pakistan batted first and openers Salman Butt and Imran Farhat established a good partnership for the first wicket. Farhat fell to a great catch at first slip off Harbhajan Singh, but by then Pakistan were already 71 in the 16th over. Butt and Shoaib Malik accelerated nicely until both were dismissed in consecutive overs (Malik bowled by Zaheer Khan for 39 and Butt run out to some great fielding by Ravindra Jadeja for 74). The Indian fielding got even better when Virat Kohli plucked a stunning catch at first slip to remove Umar Amin, and Pakistan were wobbling at 160/4. Shahid Afridi survived a tough return catch to Zaheer Khan, but was cleaned up by Praveen Kumar for a quick 32. At 227/6 in the 45th over, India would have fancied wrapping things up quickly, but Kamral Akmal belted 51 off 41 balls (two 4s and three 6s) to take Pakistan to a competitive 267 all out. Salman Butt was the top scorer with 74, while Praveen Kumar picked up 3 wickets for 53 in 10 overs. 

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Aamer started well for Pakistan, limiting India to just 46 in the first 10 overs. Virender Sehwag developed a hip problem and was caught behind for an uncharacteristic 10 off 32 balls. Mahendra Singh Dhoni promoted himself up the order when Virat Kohli was bowled for just 18, as the Pakistani spinners - Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik - slowed the Indian scoring and raised the required run rate to over 6 an over. The pressure tactics seemed to have paid off, when Gautam Gamhbir (on 69) miscued a lofted shot and was badly dropped by Mohammed Aamer. Gamhbir eventually went for 83, but Rohit Sharma plundered 11 off an Akhtar over to narrow the equation. He fell to Shahid Afridi for 22, Dhoni swept the ball onto his stumps the next over for 56, and Ajmal got Ravindra Jadeja for 6 - India went from 208/3 to 219/6, with 49 required from 29 balls. Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh combined to take the game to the final over, with India needing 7 off 6. Raina was run out trying to steal a bye, but with 3 off 2 to win, Harbhajan Singh who clobbered Mohammed Aamer over the ropes to take India home by the skin of their teeth. 

When the dust settled, Pakistan had only themselves to blame for the loss. Notwithstanding Mohammed Aamer's dropped catch, dozens of fielding errors yielded 2s and 3s from what should have been 1s and 2s, which allowed India to get close enough to their target to accelerate. That said, Pakistan did bat and bowl well, and disappointed as though they will be to leave the Asia Cup before the final, can say that they played some entertaining cricket despite well-publicized infighting and mismanagement. India won't have too many complaints about their day, bar the injury to Virender Sehwag that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. It's a setback, but they managed well enough without him for this game - they'll hope that they can continue to do that as they face Sri Lanka twice, once in a dead game and again in the final.