Guwahati: India defeated Pakistan by four wickets thanks to an explosive half-century by star batter Virat Kohli and a century stand with Hardik Pandya in their Group 2, Super 12 encounter of the 2018 ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday at the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
With this victory, India has two points and leads Group 2.
India’s attempt to chase 160 was disastrously off to a bad start when opener KL Rahul was dismissed for just four runs off of eight balls by bowler Naseem Shah. Once again, the opener fell short in a critical game when an inside edge went straight for the stumps. India was now 7/1.
India had a second shock when skipper Rohit nicked one straight to Iftikhar Ahmed in the slips. Haris Rauf, a pacer, took the captain’s wicket for just 4 off 7 balls. India was two down after 3.2 overs and 10 runs.
Once again, all eyes were on Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli to form a new alliance. Suryakumar got things going with a smooth, straight shot and added three on the next pitch.
Rauf caught the big fish after he nicked one to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who was looking pretty excellent as Suryakumar was. Suryakumar’s dismissal for just 15 off 10 balls in the pavilion dealt India yet another devastating blow. India scored 26/3 in 5.3 overs.
The following batter to the crease was Axar Patel. India was 31/3 at the end of the powerplay in six overs with Virat (5*) and Axar (2*) on the crease. After an unfortunate run-out for just 2, Patel also walked back. India was now 31/4.
Rizwan fumbled the runout and didn’t strike the stumps with the ball all the way, but he got away with it in Patel’s dismissal.
India was put in the clear midway through their inning by Pandya and Kohli, despite the fact that just singles were being hit. Virat (12*) and Pandya (7*) were at the crease as India reached 45/4 after 10 overs.
India scored 50 runs in just 10.3 overs. At the start of the 12th over, Pandya struck Mohammad Nawaz for a big six, giving him his first six of the innings. Virat blasted a clean shot at Nawaz that resulted in two additional sixes, giving India a crucial over that resulted in 20 runs.
The pair mentioned their 50-run partnership in 40 balls.
After 15 overs, India reached the 100-run threshold. With Virat (42*) and Hardik (32*) at the crease, India stood at 100/4. These two were instrumental in Men in Blue’s strong comeback, which saw them score 55 runs in the final five overs.
Rauf’s efficient 16th over, which resulted in six wickets for Pakistan, helped the team gain some momentum. India needed 24 balls and 54 runs. Six runs came from the next over, reducing the equation to 48 off 18 balls.
Virat had reached his half-century in just 43 balls. The outstanding batsman helped India win 17 more runs by turning the tide once more in their favour. Men in Blue had a 31-off-of-12 requirement.
Virat turned the tide for India with two sixes in two balls after Rauf controlled the 19th over. India needed to score 16 in the last over.
This duo of adored players needed to make a big hit in the final over after scoring 113 off 77 balls in their 77 balls. Pandya scored 40 runs off of 37 balls before leaving to Nawaz’s first ball. The “Finisher,” Dinesh Karthik, was at the crease alongside Kohli as India required 16 off 5 balls. He was stumped, though, with one out and two runs still needed.
Ashwin’s single at the end of the game gave India a four-wicket victory. With Kohli smashing an unbeaten 82 from 53 balls, including six fours and four sixes, and Ashwin remaining unbeaten at 1, India concluded at 160/6.
Rauf (2/36) and Nawaz (2/42) were Pakistan’s top two bowlers. Naseem also grabbed a wicket.
Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya’s early, ferocious, and excellent bowling performances on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) helped India restrict arch-rivals Pakistan to 159/8 in the high-stakes match of the Super 12 stage of the 2017 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Arshdeep Singh recorded three wickets for India. Hardik Pandya came back with an incredible score of 3-30.
Iftikhar Ahmed hit an important 51 runs, while Shan Masood led Pakistan with 52 runs while still unbeaten.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who chose to bowl first, gave India a fantastic start by preventing Pakistani batters from gaining runs with his aggressive bowling. Pakistan was dealt a severe blow in the second over of the innings when Arshdeep Singh sent their star hitter Babar Azam packing for a first-ball duck without scoring a score.
The next batsman to bat was Shan Masood. Mohammad Rizwan, the Pakistan opener, was bowled by Arshdeep in the fourth over of the innings for 4 runs off 12 deliveries, leaving Men in Green in trouble at 15-2. The left-arm bowler Arshdeep Singh struck out both of Pakistan’s openers during the powerplay to give India the advantage in the game.
After then, Iftikhar Ahmed took the field. Masood and Iftikhar alternated opening their fists and slamming barriers. Pakistan’s score after the powerplay was at 32-2.
In the ninth over of the match, Iftikhar and Masood managed to push their team’s score above the 50-run mark despite being under pressure. Pakistan’s score after 10 overs of play was 60/2.
In the 12th over of the innings, Iftikhar changed up his approach and smacked back-to-back two massive sixes, hitting Axar Patel for 21 runs. Iftikhar reached his half-century in 32 deliveries by hitting the Indian bowlers all around the field.
When Mohammed Shami was reintroduced into the attack, he eliminated Iftikhar as a dangerman for 51 off 34. Finally, Pakistan’s 76-run third-wicket partnership was ended.
After Shadab Khan arrived at the crease, Hardik Pandya sent him back to the pavilion after the hitter had only managed to score 5 runs off of 6 balls in the 14th over. Haider Ali, the replacement batsman, was caught out by Suryakumar Yadav in the same over, and Pandya struck again. The Pakistani batter was out for 2 runs.
Mohammad Nawaz started Pandya’s performance off with a magnificent four, but his outing was ended after just getting 9 runs in 6 deliveries. At this stage, Pakistan was often losing wickets. After that, Arshdeep bowled a wonderful delivery to dismiss Asif Ali, who Dinesh Karthik caught behind the wicket.
Shan Masood reached his third T20I fifty in 40 balls while pounding Indian bowlers all over the field. Shaheen Afridi hit one four and one six on Arshdeep’s delivery in the penultimate over of the innings.
Afridi was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar in the final over after scoring 16 runs off 8 pitches. The next time up, new batsman Haris Rauf smashed a big six to lead his team to a respectable score of 159/8 in 20 overs.
Brief score: India 160/6 (Virat Kohli 82*, Hardik Pandya 40, Haris Rauf 2/36) vs. Pakistan 159/8 (Shan Masood 52*, Iftikhar Ahmed 51; Hardik Pandya 3-30).