Kohli demolish Pakistan in record chase

India 330 for 4 (Kohli 183, Rohit 68, Tendulkar 52) beat Pakistan 329 for 6 (Hafeez 105, Jamshed 112, Younis 52) by six wickets

Virat Kohli destroyed a career-best 183 to power India to a critical six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Dhaka on Sunday.

The in-form batsman hit one six and 22 fours in his explosive 148-ball knock. It was his third century in four matches and helped India accomplish the stiff 330-run target with 13 balls to spare.

Nasir Jamshed earlier hit a 104-ball 112 for his maiden one-day century and Mohammad Hafeez made a 113-ball 105 to help Pakistan post a challenging total.

Pakistan made it to the final despite the defeat, finishing their league engagements with nine points from three games, while India (eight points from three games) and Bangladesh (four from two) are still in contention.
Bangladesh need to win their final league match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday to knock India out.

The day-night match was the first between the two teams since the high-profile World Cup semi-final at Mohali last March, which India won on their way to clinching the showpiece title.

Kohli and opener Sachin Tendulkar put India on course for the remarkable victory with a 133-run stand for the second wicket after the second-ball dismissal of Gautam Gambhir.

Tendulkar, who became the first plaer to score 100 international centuries on Friday, looked in good form.
Kohli, whose previous best was an unbeaten 133, received valuable support from Rohit Sharma who made an impressive 68 in a 172-run stand for the third wicket.

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West Indies finish five-year deficiency

West Indies 163 for 5 in 38.2 overs (Pollard 47*) hit Australia 154 for 9 in 40 overs (David Hussey 37, Narine 4-27) by five wickets on D/L method

Kingstown, March 18, 2012 (AFP) - Big-hitting Kieron Pollard blasted a usually muscular 47 as West Indies clinched their first win in almost six years over Australia when they took the second one-dayer by five wickets on Sunday.

In a match abridged to 40 over a side because of rain, Australia struggled to 154 for nine beneath overcast conditions with West Indies reaching their Duckworth-Lewis goal of 158 with 10 balls remaining.

Pollard top-scored with 47, an innings which featured four huge sixes, one of which, off spinner Xavier Doherty, cleared the Arnos Vale stands and ended on the runway of the neighboring St Vincent airport.

Carlton Baugh had the honors of hitting the winning runs, another six off the hapless Doherty which flew over midwicket as the home side finished on 163 for five.

Dwyane Bravo also played a crucial role, making 30 in a fifth-wicket organization of 64 with Pollard which swung the game the West Indies' way after they had lost opening Kieran Powell to a first ball lbw off Brett Lee.

"It's a good feeling, the team played much better today, the bowlers did well once more and there was much more responsibility when chasing the runs," said West Indies captain Darren Sammy.

"It was a total team effort. All in all we were searching for a win and we are glad we got over the line. From the last game, when we batted, there was not much change; today we did what we had to do and I'm just happy we won one."

Australian captain Shane Watson admits that his batsmen had come up short. "In the end we were 20-30 runs short. Unfortunately we weren't able to get big sufficient partnerships through the start or middle," said Watson.

"Once the sun got on the wicket it seemed to settle a little more but that's the large challenge of playing in the West Indies and we have to adjust a little better. It's about getting the balance of the batting -- the wickets are a little different from home."

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