A total of seven changes - four for Pakistan, three for India – were indicative of the thinking in both camps.

That said the tourists would have been desperate to salvage some lost pride, while the Indians would have been looking to turn the psychological screws ahead of the Test series.

Batting first, Pakistan’s imposing score of 306-6 was founded on a superb 168 partnership between Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf for the fourth wicket.

The two had come together with their side wobbling on 77-3, Sree Santh taking three wickets in three consecutive overs.

Good fortune favoured the Pakistani batsman as edges and mis-hits landed just short of the fielders, and you sensed this was going to be their day.

Having ridden their luck, both Yousuf and Malik grew in confidence, playing some truly glorious shots, particularly off the slow bowlers.

Fawad Alam’s late cameo of 32 off 23 balls showed his form in domestic Twenty20 has been no fluke.

India’s reply, by contrast, saw wickets tumble at regular intervals, despite a brisk 30 off 27 balls by Sachin Tendulkar. And at 62-4, India had a very tall mountain to climb.

But there’s a new belief in the Indian side, and Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma set about the repair job, the latter notching up his maiden ODI fifty in a 81-run partnership.

At his fall, Mahendra Dhoni came to the crease, and an incredible win seemed on.

But a cruel twist of fate, literally, hit India’s hopes. Dhoni, turning sharply for a second at the bowler’s end, appeared to slip and went down in agony.

A lengthy break from play followed as he was bandaged up. The very first ball after this delay, Yuvraj pulled at Umar Gul, missed, and the ball hit his shoulder through to the keeper.

The left-hander stood his ground for several seconds to show his anguish as umpire
Suresh Shastri raised his finger.

A few balls later, Dhoni, clearly hampered by the injury, and batting with a runner, fell at mid-off going for the big one, and the game was all but Pakistan’s.

Malik won the man-of-the-match award for his 89 and three wickets, and the Pakistan captain must have been mighty relieved to have lost the toss, as the “curse of the toss-winner” struck for the fifth consecutive time in this five-match series.

But with this series already decided, his thoughts must already have been drifting to the Test series, which starts in Delhi next Thursday.

It must be deeply frustrating for the 'Little Master' but in the context of a match, how different is a contribution of 97 as opposed to 100? It's only three runs, so let's not get too bogged down by the stats, and instead focus on what was yet another magnificent innings.

Chasing 256, India were 48-2 at one stage. However, once Tendulkar took command, India rarely looked like slipping up. He and Sehwag put on 107 for the third wicket, and with Tendulkar in full flow, Sehwag enjoyed valuable time at the crease to get set.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik had called correctly, only for the 'curse of the winning toss' to strike for the fourth consecutive time in this series. Losing Salman Butt off just the second ball of the match was a blow, prompting Malik and Younus Khan to bat with caution, perhaps too much caution - after all the curator of the Gwalior pitch had said it would be full of runs.

So was this a deceptively tricky wicket to bat on? Evidently not, if you go by the crisp cover drives that flowed later from Tendulkar’s blade.

With Shahid Afridi set to come in at five and Misbah to follow, also in good touch, maybe Pakistan felt it prudent to follow the Indian approach from the previous match at Kanpur, where Yuvraj and Dhoni patiently conserved wickets before stepping on the gas.

The run rate rarely looked in danger of rising above 4.5 per over and a lot of credit for this has to go India’s bits-and-pieces bowlers - Yuvraj, Sehwag and Ganguly combining to take 2-52 off 10 overs and vindicating Dhoni’s decision to play the extra batsman.

Indeed, it was only the class of Mohammad Yousuf, with 99 not out, that got Pakistan past the 250 mark.

This match highlighted just how dominant the Indian batsmen and how much Pakistan have missed the injured Mohammed Asif. With Asif set to miss the Test series too, it could be a tough road ahead for the tourists.

Pakistan got to do so, but were outplayed by India who took a 2-1 series lead, and perhaps Shoaib Malik will hope to lose the toss for the last two matches.

So far the toss winner has lost every game of the series.

So it proved, though not without a little help from the Pakistani fielders.

Sourav Ganguly was dropped off the very first ball by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal off Shoaib Akhtar.

And the Prince of Calcutta, with his partner Sachin Tendulkar, made Pakistan pay, hitting 67 from the first 10 overs.

After that initial flurry, Sohail Tanvir and the Pakistani spinners tightened things up as the wicket started to dry and turn.

India knew a big score was possible providing they had wickets in hand and the acceleration came in the 34th over, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni each hitting a pair of sixes as 50 came off just four overs.

The pair put on 100 off 91 balls for the fourth wicket, though not without a little luck for Yuvi, first dropped by Salman Butt at extra cover, and then surviving a close lbw shout off Rehman.

The last time I was in Kanpur, I didn’t blink too much despite some of the worst pollution in the world.

Just as well otherwise I would have missed most of Shahid Afridi’s whirlwind 100 off just 45 balls.

That knock I suspect was very much in his captain’s mind when he promoted the big-hitting all-rounder to opener, something which appeared to be paying off as 24 runs came off the first two overs.

On this occasion though, Afridi’s innings was a comparatively brief one, out in typical fashion, bowled trying to hit Irfan Pathan out of the ground.

Opener Butt oozed class with exquisite strokeplay as he hit a superb 129.

But there was only modest support at the other end for him, and when he was ninth man out the match had already started to slip away.

Yuvraj deservedly took the man-of-the-match prize for a fine all round performance: 77 with the bat, brilliant fielding to run-out Mohammad Yousuf, and then trapping Malik lbw.

And Pakistan must now win both the remaining two matches if they are to clinch this series.

But despite the victory, there will be one big worry in the minds of Shoaib Malik and Geoff Lawson.

Pakistan's new-ball pair, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul, bowled with real fire on a wicket providing pace and bounce, but for the second match running, none of the other bowlers provided able support.

How they could have done with an in-form Sami, Razzaq or Naved because it looked at one stage as though they would be chasing a target of 350-plus.

Credit must go to Malik’s captaincy for bringing Gul on to get rid of both Tendulkar and Gambhir, and later Tanvir to account for Yuvraj and Uthappa in the same over.

After the loss of Sourav Ganguly in the first over, Tendulkar and Gambhir laid a great foundation with a superb partnership of 173 for the second wicket.

Gambhir played some fine shots in his 57, but it was the 'Little Master' who was in dominant form, producing some sparkling footwork, whether clipping a four off his legs or smashing a six over deep extra cover.

If any knock deserved a hundred, this was it – alas though, it wasn’t to be, and he was caught behind for 99 looking to guide the ball down to third man for the single.

Younus's innings for Pakistan was equally memorable, and his crucial partnership with Misbah-ul-Haq (49) kept their team in the game when it looked for all the world that it was slipping away.

The pair put on 102 for the fifth wicket and despite the required rate exceeding 10 runs per over at one stage, they paced the chase perfectly, and set the stage for Shahid Afridi to finish things off with a few lusty blows.

The 200 or so Pakistani fans who managed to get visas to cross the Wagah border to watch the match will feel the journey was worth the hours of waiting at the crossing while their papers were cleared.

And now at one game all with three to play, the circus moves on to Kanpur, where organisers will be hoping for another contest as thrilling as this one.

Kamlesh Purohit is a senior sports reporter for the BBC Asian Network

Whether or not the Pakistani players were distracted by the goings on back home is difficult to say, though with family still there they’d be forgiven for having one eye on the state of emergency imposed by General Musharraf.

That said, they must have been disappointed by their score of 239-7 in the opening one-day international against India at Guwahati.

Their innings was an odd one, making it difficult to judge just how the wicket was playing - 11 runs came off the first over, and 21 off the first three, but then just one run came off the next three, and that was pretty much the pattern for the first 30 overs.

It was only when Shahid Afridi arrived at the crease at the fall of a rather sedate Younus Khan that the pace of scoring picked up. But then, in stepped India's 'little master', Sachin Tendulkar, to star with ball rather than bat.

Tendulkar first had the dangerous Afridi stumped with a clever wider delivery which evaded the advancing batsman, and then in his next over had skipper Shoaib Malik caught in the deep, and the momentum seemed to go out of the Pakistani innings. Only Mohammad Yousuf's resilience saw them to a respectable total.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t keep Shoaib Akhtar down for long. In only his second match after serving a 13-match ban, the 'Rawalpindi Express' gave the tourists some hope when he yet again captured the prized scalp of Tendulkar cheaply.

But lacking full match fitness, Shoaib could only bowl full-pelt in three-over spells, so the Indians were only too happy to play him out. It has to be also said that he received scant support from the other Pakistani pacers.

For Sachin’s part, his critics will no doubt point to yet another Shoaib dismissal as further evidence that his reactions are not what they used to be.

In the end a match-winning 105 run partnership between Yuvraj and Man of the Match Dhoni saw India home comfortably with five wickets in hand.

Pakistan will have to bat much better in the rest of this series, and look to post totals which will put some pressure on the Indians, but it has to said their batting seems to be missing one major component - the composed assuredness and reliability of one Inzamam ul-Haq.