It’s all about expecting the unexpected with Pakistan.

Perform however they may against other teams, India vs Pakistan is always a different story altogether. Who would’ve thought that Pakistan would bat the way they did. With their consistently unimpressive batting since the England series, followed by a dismal display in their matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, Pakistan evidently had been banking on their bowling.

Things started to look up in the match against Sri Lanka, where signs of stability in the Pakistan top-order started showing (see Looking Ahead: India vs Pakistan). And it came to fruition in the match against India. Out came Hafeez and Jamshed to open to innings for Pakistan and what a start they got off to! Even better was the ease with which they smashed deliveries away for boundaries.

Here are some highlights of Pakistan’s batting innings:

224-run first wicket partnership between Hafeez and Jamshed which is now Pakistan’s highest opening wicket partnership against India.

Between them, Hafeez and Jamshed scored 21 boundaries — 19 fours and 2 sixes. The two openers also made their maiden ODI hundreds against India.

Shahid Afridi achieved his 7000-run milestone.

Even Younus Khan, who had been pretty dormant till now, scored 52 runs.

Pakistan set a target of 330 —  329 being the highest total in any match so far in the Asia Cup.

Quite a feat for a team that is not popular for its batting!

To view our pre-match discussion on today’s game with cricket experts, click here