Top India vs Pakistan encounters

The concept of 'Love Thy Neighbour' goes for a toss when India and Pakistan step on to the cricket field. This is one encounter that promises to be full of excitement, passion, legendary rivalry and entertainment. Even as MS Dhoni and his team prepare to take on a 'wounded' Pakistan side in the final edition of the Champions Trophy, we take a look at top battles between the two sides.

March 30, 2011 in Mohali: India won by 29 runs

It was a dream encounter. Two arch-rivals taking on each other for a berth in the World Cup final. Of course it would have been better if they were meeting in the final, but it was a treat nevertheless. India made sure they kept their 100 % winning record against Pakistan intact. And the architect of the win was none other the Master himself. Sachin Tendulkar scored 85 to guide his side to a score of 260. And then the bowlers fired in tandem to see India through. Rest as they is history!

2007 ICC T20 World Cup Final: After the thrilling group encounter, the two archrivals met again - this time for the title. It again went down to the wires. The gamble of asking Joginder Sharma to bowl the last over paid for Dhoni. When Misbah scooped the last delivery for six, a billion hearts skipped a beat and then all eyes turned to Sreesanth, who was right under the ball. As soon as he took the catch, the entire nation erupted into celebrations. The title was an important achievement after India's disappointing 50-over World Cup exit in the Caribbean. It was India's first World title after the 1983 World Cup title.

ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, Group D match: Can you ever forget that? This particular event highlighted just how different and more exciting Twenty20 cricket was from ODIs and Test cricket. In the 10th Group D match between the archrivals, India scored 141 in 20 overs. Pakistan leveled the score and it came down to the Bowl Out. Each team had five chances to aim at the stumps. While India's Sehwag, Bhajji and Uthappa got it right, Pakistan's Afridi, Gul and Arafat missed the stumps, losing 0-3 through a bowl-out.

March 1, 2003 in Centurion: India won by six wickets

The World Cup match was as much about India vs Pakistan as about Sachin Tendulkar v Shoaib Akhtar. Tendulkar smashed a 75-ball 98 to help his team achieve a stiff 274-run target. Pakistani fast bowler Akhtar bagged just one wicket, that of Tendulkar, while conceding 72 runs in his 10 overs. Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar (101) was the only batsman to score a century in the match.

May 21, 1997 in Chennai: Pakistan won by 35 runs

Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar flayed the Indian attack with the then world record of 194 off just 146 balls in an Independence Cup match. India were bowled out for 292 chasing a 328-run target. Anwar's record stood for more than a decade before Sachin Tendulkar became the world's first batsman to hammer a double-century in ODIs in 2010, against South Africa in Gwalior.

October 25, 1991 in Sharjah: Pakistan won by 72 runs

After Pakistan had posted a competitive 262 in the Wills Trophy final, they found a hat-trick man in fast bowler Aaqib Javed who sliced through the Indian batting line-up to finish with 7-37 off 10 overs, then the best figures in One-Day Internationals. His hat-trick victims were Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, all lbws, as India were bowled out for 190.

March 20, 1987 in Hyderabad: India won after a tied game

Pakistan required two runs to win off the last ball to achieve a modest 213-run target, but Abdul Qadir was run out attempting a second run in the third game of a six-match series. India (212-6) and Pakistan (212-7) finished at the same score, but the hosts were declared winners by virtue of losing fewer wickets.

April 18, 1986, Sharjah: Pakistan won by one wicket

The match will always be remembered for Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad's last-ball match-winning six off Indian seamer Chetan Sharma. Pakistan needed four runs to win off the last delivery before Miandad (116 not out) broke Indian hearts with one memorable blow.

March 22, 1985 in Sharjah: India won by 38 runs

Pakistani paceman Imran Khan had virtually put his team in a winning position when he grabbed 6-14 off 10 overs to bowl India out for a paltry 125 in a Four-Nations Cup match. But India, led by fast bowler Kapil Dev (3-17), dismissed Pakistan for 87 to clinch a low-scoring thriller.