5.45 pm Pakistan were in the midst of a disconcertingly familiar situation in the middle of this innings. And this time they did not have Misbah to bail them out. But Umar Akmal took it upon himself to stay till the very end of the innings. He ensured the score ticked along, especially in the half-century partnership with Anwar Ali. But once he got out, the gears changed and he simply blitzed through to his second ODI century and has given Pakistan a pretty decent total to bowl at. Afghanistan were very good in the early goings, but in the last few overs they were simply rattled. Too many full tosses, too many boundary balls and consequently a much larger target to chase

"I know there was huge pressure, great credit to management and coach for believing in me," says Umar Akmal. I just did my best to stay out there and push things along. Moin Khan, the coach, supported me a lot, the seniors too. They said you had enough ability to stay in the wicket [and bat long] and I'm trying that out in this series. We can defend it. We have one of the best spinners in Saeed and Afridi bhai and Guly bhai too. Dedicate this century to my wife"