They were about as disciplined as frat boys on a Friday night -- which indeed is the night out on the tiles in these parts.A beefy allrounder with a flowing mane, Afridi is a Peshawari who learnt his cricket in Karachi, his surname denoting a hot-headed and militaristic tribe that is said to be unforgiving in its quest for revenge. Lord knows what he was avenging today, but he certainly had the Indians cringing as he blazed his way to the first century in the third Sahara Cup tournament.Afridi got stuck into theIndian attack after Saeed Anwar had gifted his wicket to Agarkar by moving too far across for a glide and presented his leg stump. But that was the only success the newest fast bowling torpedo had in two short wayward spells early on.Much as Srinath soldiered manfully, Agarkar and Prasad were positively unruly on this day, spraying short or pitching too far up.

The magical arm of Saurav Ganguly surpassed them in prodigality as Afridi carved him up for three of his six sixes. If the Toronto Blue Jays, the local baseball team, were looking for a home run heaver, Afridi could have been the first pick.Inzamam-ul-Haq joined the feast later when Ganguly got another look in. Poor Ganguly, it was almost as if Toronto was making up for the luck it has lavished on him so far. His bowling figures looked as ruinous as the Russian economy he went for 62 in five overs. Only left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, out of the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour, provided moments of sanity in the mayhem the Pakistanis unleashed on theIndian bowling.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, went right for India. Edges fell wides, scoops fell short, and shies at the stumps missed by inches. Even Azhar dropped a sharp chance of Inzamam after Afridi had thrown it away, having clubbed 109 at less than run a ball. Of the 20 or so times the Indians threw at the stumps, they connected once. It went for an overthrow.

In despair, Azhar switched bowlers and switched fields. But it would have needed witchcraft, not switchcraft, to stop the Pakistanis today.After Sohail and Afridi slapped together a hundred partnership in swift time, with the captain doing a superb shepherding job of Afridi, Inzamam lit into the Indian bowling creaming 78 from 75 balls of a hapless attack. Malik joined the carnival, chipping and chopping 39 in 36 balls as they added 103 at a stunning pace. In all the Pakistanis creamed nine sixes, endangering birdlife in the maple trees ringing the ground and endangering human limbs in the stand. But the Indian bowling asked for it.Pakistan's316 in 50 overs is a record total for the Sahara Cup games, even though they fell away towards the end. Still, it appeared to put the game beyond India's reach, unless they do a Dhaka on Toronto. But atleast two crucial elements of the Dhaka challenge -- Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Singh -- are missing.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan: Saeed Anwar b Agarkar 10, Shahid Afridi c Agarkar b Joshi 109, Aamir Sohail c Mongia b Joshi 46, Inzamam-ul-Haq b Srinath 78, Salim Malik b Prasad 39, Ijaz Ahmed c Dravid b Agarkar 5, Moin Khan not out 0, Azhar Mahmood not out 10. Extras (lb-8, w-10, nb-1): 19. Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 316.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-160, 3-195, 4-298, 5-303, 6-306.

Bowling: Srinath 10-0-51-1, Agarkar 10-0-67-2, Ganguly 5-0-62-0, Prasad 10-0-62-1, Kanitkar 5-0-30-0, Joshi 10-0-36-2. ¬