Lahore: In the end there were no heroics and faint hopes of a fightback vanished with the early dismissal of Virender Sehwag as India capitulated to give Pakistan a series-levelling nine-wicket win in the second Test on Thursday.

Odds were heavily stacked against the visitors when they resumed their second innings on the fourth morning at 149 for five but optimists were hoping for a miracle from the Multan Test triple-centurion Sehwag, overnight on 86. He added four runs before perishing to Shoaib Akhtar, who took three for 62.

A gritty unbeaten 62 by Parthiv Patel and a few lusty blows from Ajit Agarkar enabled India to avoid the humiliation of an innings defeat. They were all out for 241, leaving Pakistan to make 40 runs for a victory.

The hosts raced to the target in just seven overs, 25 minutes after lunch, for the loss of Imran Farhat. Taufeeq Umar scored the winning runs, glancing Irfan Pathan for four.

After an excellent spell from Akhtar, it was leg-spinner Danish Kaneria who found India’s tail easy meat in taking three for 14. The massive first innings lead of 202 by Pakistan proved too much for the visitors. Umar Gul was named Man-of-the-Match for his five for 31 on the opening day.

The visitors now go to the deciding Test in Rawalpindi starting Tuesday.

The defeat also meant India failed yet another time to break their jinx of squandering the lead in an away Test series. In recent years, they have thrice won a Test only to lose the next match in the series. The trend started in Zimbabwe three years ago and continued in the West Indies in 2002 and Australia late last year.

Resuming at 149 for five, the two overnight batsmen Sehwag and Patel, who desperately needed to survive the first hour, played out the first six overs without much trouble. But the seventh over from Akhtar spelt doom for India as the quick sent back Sehwag and Pathan in the same over to bring his team within sniffing distance of a win.

Sehwag played a rather rash shot, fishing at an outgoing delivery from Akhtar and Kamran Akmal behind the stumps gleefully accepted the offer much to the jubilation of his teammates. Sehwag’s 134-ball 90 came in 214 minutes and contained 14 boundaries. Akhtar then softened Pathan with three bouncers and dismissed him for a duck later in the same over.

But just when it looked like curtains for India, Patel and Agarkar came up with a fighting stand to ensure the hosts would have to bat again.

Incidentally, Anil Kumble was stumped for nought though television replays suggested the third umpire might have got the decision wrong. Kumble’s back leg was in the air but his front leg seemed to be grounded inside the crease.

Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq later said: “Our bowlers were much better on a pitch which offered them some help. They bowled line and length and pitched the ball on the right spot (which) created pressure. “If our batsmen can post a big score, then we have enough bowling to trouble the Indian batting,” felt Pakistan coach Javed Miandad. “It is a very good win. We were down after losing the first Test. But we bounced back superbly.”

Moin, Razzaq out

Moin Khan and Abdul Razzaq have been ruled out of the third and final Test after failing to recover from injuries. Moin is suffering from a groin problem and Razzaq from a back strain.

“They have been released from the squad and their replacements will be named Friday,” a team spokesman said.