Cricket fans spilled over into India's streets and danced to drumbeats Saturday to celebrate their team's win over arch-rival Pakistan in the opening one-day match of the historic series.
Roads which had been deserted throughout the day as people were glued to their television sets came alive in spontaneous rejoicing as soon as the last ball was bowled in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
Firecracker bursts mingled with shouts of "Long live India" and "Hip Hip Hurray" as traffic had to stop on many Indian city roads to give way to the joyful crowds.
"It was a tight game and luckily we scraped through to a victory. We cannot forget the memory of (Pakistani batsman) Javed Miandad's last ball six win in 1986 in Sharjah over India," said Dilip Goyal, a cricket fan in New Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee congratulated Indian cricket captain Sourav Gnaguly and his team by phone after their thrilling victory.
Many Indians were only able to see the match after Supreme Court Justice V.N. Khare stepped in at the last moment late Friday to order Gulf-based Ten Sports TV network to share its exclusive rights to broadcast the match with state-run Doordarshan.
The Supreme Court will take up a hearing again on Monday and then pass a final order.