Rishabh Pant’s good catching and the combined bowling skills of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya helped India get a narrow but important win over rivals Pakistan in Group A of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
It was a victory that seemed unlikely when Pakistan was chasing the target of 120 runs. After 10 overs, their score was 57/1 having lost only Babar Azam’s wicket. They needed only 63 more runs from the remaining 60 balls.
However, five more batsmen got out in the second half of their innings, leaving them 7 runs short of the target score.
Match Details: India v Pakistan
Toss: Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Virat and Rohit Out Early
Pakistan made one change, bringing in Imad Wasim instead of Azam Khan. India played the same team that beat Ireland.
Rain delayed the start of the match and forced players off the field after the first over.
When play resumed, Virat Kohli was out early, caught by Usman Khan off Naseem Shah’s bowling. Rohit Sharma also got out cheaply, hitting straight to Haris Rauf at deep square leg.
Naseem got his second wicket by dismissing Axar Patel, leaving India at 58/3. Rishabh Pant then scored 42 runs to boost the innings before getting out.
India only reached 100 runs in the 16th over. Hardik Pandya (8th man out), Jasprit Bumrah (9th) and Arshdeep Singh (run out on last ball) were the other batsmen dismissed as India scored 112/9.
Brilliant Pant and Bumrah
Pakistan started well in their chase. Babar Azam was out in the 5th over, caught brilliantly by Suryakumar Yadav off Bumrah’s bowling.
Rizwan and Usman Khan kept scoring steadily. At halfway, Pakistan was 57/1, needing only 63 more from 60 balls.
India got Usman out lbw on review. Fakhar hit a four and six before edging to Pant off Hardik’s bowling.
The turning point was Rizwan’s dismissal for 31 in the 15th over, bowled by Bumrah. Pakistan was now 80/4 with a rising required rate.
Pant caught Shadab off Hardik’s bowling. Arshdeep caught Iftikhar off Bumrah, narrowly avoiding a collision with Yadav.
In the final over, Pant caught Imad Wasim off Arshdeep as Pakistan fell 7 runs short.