The Pathans burn it up!!!

India needed 57 runs from 29 deliveries when Irfan Pathan joined his brother Yusuf in the middle. Yusuf, the big hitter who bowls a bit of useful offspin, is not yet a permanent fixture in India's one-day side. Plenty has been said about Irfan - critics cite his ineffective bowling on subcontinent pitches - and it appears he is struggling to identify his predominant vocation.

What followed was stirring stuff. Irfan and Yusuf plundered 59 runs off 25 balls and India posted a rousing three-wicket win with four balls to spare.

Throughout this tour, Muttiah Muralitharan has been taunting Yusuf on and off the field. "Why don't you hit me?" has often been the central jibe. Yusuf reminded him about the IPL final, when he took on Murali but was told that the pitch didn't turn. Tonight, there was no Murali and more importantly, the team situation demanded Yusuf to hit out. And he did.

"The ball had suddenly started to turn and rotating the strike was difficult," Mahendra Singh Dhoni said about the pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium. Yusuf got a little help from Tillakaratne Dilshan who threw the ball to legspinner Malinga Bandara. Cue two sixes and a four in the 16th over, and equation had quickly changed to 40 from 24 balls.

When quizzed about those monster hits at the post-match ceremony, Yusuf said they had all been in his slot. It was as if he had no excuse. He just had to hit the cover off the ball, with no offence to Bandara. As Dhoni said, Yusuf has licence to hit: "We really don't want him to rotate the strike; we want him to look for the big shots."

It wasn't all just brute force, however. Yusuf showed that behind that expressionless exterior, there was a smart brain clicking. After that expensive over from Bandara, Dilshan didn't turn back to spin, and Yusuf coolly picked singles to hand the strike over to his younger brother. Responding to the pressure admirably, Irfan unfurled some gems of his own against Dilhara Fernando and Lasith Malinga. Irfan is a better player of seam bowling and Yusuf can murder spin. It was a perfect tango.