India versus Pakistan: Ten things common in Adelaide as well as Mohali match

1. The Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss in both the matches.

2. The Indian side chose to bat first in both Mohali and Adelaide matches. In Mohali, the Indian total stood at 260/9, whereas in yesterday's match in Adelaide, the Men in Blue managed 300/7.

3. In both the matches, one of the Indian openers scored a 50. It was Sachin Tendulkar in Mohali with 85 runs, and in Adelaide, Shikhar Dhawan gave a rock solid opening with 73 runs.

4. In both matches the Indian team struggled during the death overs. The fact that Suresh Raina rained some runs here and there was indeed a match saver. Raina remained on the strike with 36 runs in the Mohali match and hit a promising knock of 74 runs in Adelaide.

5. Pakistan saw the rise of a new bowling star again and this time it was Sohail Khan. Sohail alone wiped half of India's playing eleven and gave away 55 runs. During the Mohali match, Wahab Riaz proved dangerous for India. Another interesting fact: Both the bowlers were on their maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket.

6. Pakistan's most successful bowler, Shahid Afridi remained wicket-less in the both the matches. In Mohali, he gave 45 runs in his ten overs and in yesterdays match, 50 runs in eight overs.

7. The Indian top scorers gained massively from the Pakistani side's butter fingers. In the Mohali match, Tendulkar's coveted catch was dropped - not once, or twice, but four times! And the Little Master cruised his way to 85 runs. In Adelaide, the Pakistan bowlers granted a new lease to Kohli's innings twice.

8. Delhi boy, Kohli was caught out by Umar Akmal in both the matches. The Indian vice-captain was playing at nine runs in Mohali. He was dismissed by a Wahab Riaz's delivery when Akmal grabbed his wicket at backward point. In Adlelaide, Kohli had scored 107 when he tried to hit Sohail's ball to the cover. But the ball stole a kiss from Kohli's bat, flying into Akmal's gloves.

9. Both the matches saw the in-form batsmen bowled out on a duck. In the Mohali match, Yuvraj Singh was sent back to the pavilion on a Riaz delivery. And the Adelaide Oval Stadium saw Ajinkya Rahane being dismissed without opening his account.

10. The Indian bowling brigade was on fire in both Mohali and Adelaide. The then spearhead, Zaheer Khan picked up two wickets along with Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel. The spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were also successful in taking two wickets each. In the Adelaide match, newbie Mohammed Shami tasted early success by taking four wickets. The bowling attack was further fine-tuned as Umesh Yadaav and Mohit Sharma took two and R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked up one wicket each.

(Translated from Hindi by Radhika Sharma.)