Dravid shared an opening stand of 138 with Sehwag

Skipper Rahul Dravid led from the front with a responsible 92 as India defeated Pakistan by 51 runs in Abu Dhabi to tie the one-day series 1-1.

He put on 138 for the opening wicket with Virender Sehwag (73) to help India post a challenging 269-5

And his bowlers restricted Pakistan to 218 despite a fighting 79 from captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan and off-spinner Ramesh Powar each grabbed three wickets.

Photos from Abu Dhabi

Sehwag, rested for two games after struggling in the recent series against England, hit 10 fours and a six in his 83-ball knock.

"He batted beautifully and it is good to see him back among the runs," said man of the match Dravid.

"The key was to get runs at the top of order and Sehwag eased the pressure off me."

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Inzamam posed the main threat to India's total with a 91-ball knock but his run out in the 43rd over, brought off by Dravid, dashed his team's hopes.

Pathan jolted Pakistan with two wickets in successive overs, trapping Imran Farhat leg-before for his 100th victim in one-dayers and then uprooting the middle-stump of Shahid Afridi.

India, shot out for 197 in Tuesday's opening defeat, were bolstered by Mahendra Dhoni (59) and the big-hitting Yuvraj Singh (24) after winning the toss.

Dravid looked set to complete his 12th hundred when he inside-edged seamer Mohammad Asif's delivery on to his stumps, but not before setting a stiff target for Pakistan.

India's batting continued to flourish after Sehwag's dismissal as Dravid and Dhoni kept finding gaps.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan produced slower balls to deal with Dhoni and Yuvraj.