Melbourne [Australia]: An eruptive half-century by star batter Virat Kohli and a century stand with Hardik Pandya assisted India to defeat Pakistan by 4 wickets in their Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at the renowned Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday.
With this win, India is at top of Group 2 with 2 points. Chasing after 160, India got off to a terrible start as opener KL Rahul was returned to the structure by the pacer Naseem Shah for just four of eight balls. The opener let down in a critical suit once more, with a within side landing straight right into the stumps. India was 7/1 at this point.
India received 2nd jolt when captain Rohit nicked one directly into the slips to Iftikhar Ahmed. The skipper lost his wicket for just 4 off 7 spheres to pacer Haris Rauf. India was two down at 10 runs in 3.2 overs.
Eyes were on Suryakumar Yadav and also Virat Kohli once again to stitch an additional partnership. Suryakumar began with a silky straight drive and took 3 on the very following ball.
Suryakumar was looking truly great, however Rauf got the big fish after he nicked one to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. India sustained one more big blow as Suryakumar was back in the pavillion for just 15 off 10 spheres. India was 26/3 in 5.3 overs.
Axar Patel was the next batter on the crease. At end of powerplay in six overs, India was 31/3, with Virat (5 *) and also Axar (2 *) at the crease. Patel additionally walked back after an unfavorable run-out for simply 2. India had sunk to 31/4. Patel’s termination though entailed Rizwan screwing up the runout and also not striking the stumps with the round fully, however he escaped it.
Pandya and Kohli took India secure halfway their innings, though songs continued without any borders. India was at 45/4 in 10 overs, with Virat (12 *) and also Pandya (7 *) at the crease.
India reached the 50-run mark in 10.3 overs. Pandya struck Mohammad Nawaz for a significant 6 at the beginning of the 12th over, striking the very first 6 of the innings. Nawaz was hit for 2 even more sixes, consisting of a straight struck by Virat, providing India a beneficial over which gave them 20 runs.
The duo brought up their 50-run stand in 40 rounds.
At the end of 15 overs, India touched the 100-run mark. India went to 100/4, with Virat (42 *) and Hardik (32 *) at the crease. Thanks to these two, Guy in Blue made a solid recovery, obtaining 55 runs in the last 5 overs.
Rauf turned some energy to Pakistan’s side with an economical 16th over, conceding 6. India needed 54 off 24 balls. 6 runs originated from the next over, lowering the equation to 48 off 18 spheres.
Virat reached his half-century in 43 balls. The star batter swung tides in favour of India once again, aiding India obtain 17 even more runs. Male in Blue required 31 off 12 rounds.
After Rauf controlled the 19th over, Virat turned things right into India’s favour with two 6s in two rounds. India needed 16 in the final over.
This set of beloved players had to strike huge in the last over, having scored 113 off 77 spheres in their 77 balls. Pandya departed to Nawaz’s very first ball, racking up 40 off 37 spheres. India needed 16 off 5 rounds and also the ‘Finisher’ Dinesh Karthik was at the crease with Kohli. Nonetheless, he was also baffled with two runs left and also one sphere to go.
Ashwin finished the match with a solitary, aiding India secure a four-wicket win. India ended up at 160/6, with Kohli racking up an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls, with six fours and 4 sixes and also Ashwin unbeaten at 1.
Rauf (2/36) and Nawaz (2/42) were the choice of the bowlers for Pakistan. Naseem took a wicket too.
Early, fiery as well as leading bowling spells by Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh assisted India restrict arch-rivals Pakistan to 159/8 in the high-voltage clash of the Super 12 stage of the continuous ICC Male’s T20 World Cup at the renowned Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on Sunday.
For India, Arshdeep Singh bagged three gates Hardik Pandya returned with a spectacular number of 3-30.
Shan Masood top-scored for Pakistan with 52 not out while Iftikhar Ahmed played a crucial knock of 51 runs.
Decided to bowl initially, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s fiery bowling offered an outstanding begin to India as he restricted Pakistan batters from scoring runs. In the second over of the innings, Pakistan suffered a big strike as their celebrity batter Babar Azam was sent packing for a first-ball duck by Arshdeep Singh without scoring a run.
New batter Shan Masood then came out to bat. In the 4th over of the innings, Arshdeep struck once again as he disregarded Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan for 4 escape 12 distributions, leaving Male in Green tottering at 15-2. Arshdeep Singh the left-arm pacer eliminated both the Pakistani openers inside the powerplay to offer India with the advantage in the match.
Iftikhar Ahmed then appeared to bat. Iftikhar as well as Masood both opened their hands and also knocked boundaries at normal periods. After the powerplay, Pakistan’s score read 32-2.
Despite being under pressure the duo of Iftikhar and also Masood took their team’s total past the 50-run mark in the 9th over of the game. After 10 overs of the game, Pakistan’s score reviewed 60/2.
Iftikhar changed gears as well as banged back-to-back 2 substantial 6s, hammering Axar Patel for 21 runs in the 12th over of the innings. While knocking the Indian bowlers all around the ground Iftikhar raised his half-century in 32 distributions.
Mohammed Shami was restored right into the strike and also he eliminated dangerman Iftikhar for 51 off 34. Pakistan’s 76-run stand for the third gate was finally damaged.
Shadab Khan after that pertained to the crease however the batter could refrain from doing long as he was returned to the pavilion by Hardik Pandya after racking up 5 escape 6 spheres in the 14th over. In the exact same over Pandya struck once more as he rejected the new batter, Haider Ali, for 2 runs, the Pakistani batter was caught out by Suryakumar Yadav.
Mohammad Nawaz welcomed Pandya’s spell with a sensational four, nonetheless, his stint was stopped after racking up just 9 runs in 6 deliveries. Now, Pakistan maintained losing wickets at regular periods. Arshdeep then supplied a magnificent shipment to remove Asif Ali that was caught behind the gate by Dinesh Karthik.
While hammering Indian bowlers all over the ground Shan Masood raised his 3rd T20I fifty in 40 rounds. In the penultimate over of the innings, Shaheen Afridi banged one 4 and one six on the distribution of Arshdeep.
In the last over, Bhuvneshwar sent Afridi loading after racking up 16 runs in 8 deliveries. New batter Haris Rauf after that came to bat and also he slammed a huge 6 to guide his team to an affordable overall of 159/8 in 20 overs.
Quick score: Pakistan 159/8 (Shan Masood 52 *, Iftikhar Ahmed 51; Hardik Pandya 3-30) vs India: 160/6 (Virat Kohli 82 *, Hardik Pandya 40, Haris Rauf 2/36).
