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BANGALORE, Mar 28 (AFP) : Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi triggered a sensational Indian collapse with three top wickets to mastermind Pakistan's 168-run victory in the third and final Test here Monday.
Pakistan drew the series 1-1 after India, chasing a 383-run target, were shot out for 214 just before close of play on the last day.
The hosts lost their last nine wickets for a meagre 106 on a Chinnaswamy stadium wicket which was still good for batting.
The opening Test was drawn at Mohali, while India won the second Test in Calcutta by 195 runs.
Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria completed Pakistan's dream victory when he trapped Laxmipathy Balaji leg-before with just 6.1 overs remaining.
The 25-year-old Afridi, in the team only as a third spinner after Kaneria and Arshad Khan, did the trick by catching the ultra-defensive Indian batsmen on the wrong foot.
Even Sachin Tendulkar, who became India's leading scorer after surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's record of 10,122 runs, looked a pale shadow of his normal attacking self. He made 16 off 98 balls after surviving a chance on nine.
The Indian tail-enders, led by gutsy Anil Kumble (37 not out), offered stiff resistance by lasting as many as 20 overs to delay the inevitable.
Afridi never allowed the Indian batsmen to settle down with his fastish leg-breaks, removing Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman and out-of-form Sourav Ganguly to finish with 3-13 off 17 overs.
Off-spinner Arshad, playing his first Test in five years, finished with 2-21.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq said he was delighted to win in his 100th Test appearance.
"I am a very happy man today," he said. "The boys showed great character to come back after losing the second Test. This has certainly been a match to remember."
Indian captain Ganguly complimented Pakistan for what he said was a "great win" for the tourists.
"We had lost just one wicket till lunch, but then saw nine more fall in the last two sessions. We may have become very defensive but Pakistan should get the credit for playing better than us."
The famed Indian middle order failed to cope with the pressure as Pakistan grabbed four wickets in the second session to reduce the hosts to 135-5 after getting just one in the morning.
India's hopes of chasing the target virtually ended after the run out of Virender Sehwag (38), who is capable of tearing apart any attack with his amazing strokeplay.
He had been looking dangerous during his stay at the wicket, smashing seamer Abdul Razzaq for three consecutive fours and then lofting Kaneria for two boundaries.
But once Sehwag was run out, failing to beat a Razzaq direct throw to the non-striker's end following a mix-up with Gautam Gambhir (52), India went on the defensive.
The hosts, who resumed at 25 for no loss, scored 77 in the first session and 38 in the second.
Even a draw seemed a remote possibility when India lost four wickets in the space of 27 runs in the second session, with Afridi taking two and Arshad and paceman Mohammad Sami one apiece.
Pakistan came back into the match after lunch when they removed Gambhir and Rahul Dravid in the space of 10 runs to reduce the hosts to 118-3.
Venkatsai Laxman also did not survive long, trapped leg-before by Afridi.
Afridi struck again when he bowled Ganguly (two) with a big leg-break, the batsman standing at the crease in disbelief before leaving for the pavilion.
Gambhir played a key role in an 87-run stand for the opening wicket with Sehwag (38) before being trapped leg-before by Sami.
Pakistan 1st innings: 570 (Younis Khan 267, Inzamam-ul-Haq 184; Harbhajan Singh 6-152)
India 1st innings 449 (V. Sehwag 201, V. Laxman 79 not out; Danish Kaneria 5-127, Mohammad Sami 3-106)
Pakistan 2nd innings 261-2 decl (Younis Khan 84 not out, Yasir Hameed 76, Shahid Afridi 58)
India 2nd innings (overnight 25-0):
G. Gambhir lbw b Sami 52
V. Sehwag run out 38
R. Dravid c Younis
c Arshad 16
S. Tendulkar c Kamal
b Afridi 16
V. Laxman lbw b Afridi 5
S. Ganguly b Afridi 2
D. Karthik b Sami 9
A. Kumble not out 37
I. Pathan c Youhana
b Arshad 0
H. Singh c Younis
b Kaneria 8
L. Balaji lbw b Kaneria 0
Extras (b8, lb8, nb5, w10) 31
Total 214
Overs: 89.5
Series result: The three-Test series is drawn 1-1
Man of the match: Younis Khan (PAK)
Man of the series: Virender Sehwag (IND)
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Simon Taufel (AUS)
TV umpire: I. Sivaram (IND)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
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