Younus Khan said the key to Pakistan's win over India in the second one-dayer was giving big-hitters Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir a chance at the end.

Younus (117) and Misbah-ul-Haq (49) put on 102 before Afridi and Tanvir took them past India's 321-9 in Mohali.

"Misbah and I were just thinking about staying in long enough," Younus said.

"The main thing, I thought, was if we gave Shahid and Tanvir around six or seven overs at the end it would be easy. Twelve or 14 would be difficult."

Pakistan's victory levelled the five-match series 1-1, with the action moving on to Kanpur on Sunday.

But skipper Shoaib Malik admitted it was too close for his comfort.

"I had three tablets for my blood pressure," he joked. "In the end credit goes to Younus, Misbah, Shahid and Sohail.

"We will get a lot of encouragement from winning this game and our morale is high now that it's 1-1."

Despite seeing his side pegged back in the series, India captain Mahendra Dhoni felt it had been "a good day for cricket".