New York: In the high-stakes Group A match of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Indian bowlers excelled on a challenging field to give India a 6-run victory.
Indian spinners put pressure on Pakistani hitters early on by defending just 119 runs. After scoring 13 apiece, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, and Captain Babar Azam returned. They required 40 runs from 6 overs, and although Mohammad Rizwan (31 runs from 44 balls) played reasonable cricket, he was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan finally managed 113 in allotted overs losing 7 wickets.
Bumrah claimed 3 wickets for 14 in his spell while Hardik Pandya took two.
Earlier, fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took identical figures of 3-21 as Pakistan bowled out India for just 119 in 19 overs.
Only three Indian batsmen reached double digits on a tough pitch where the ball paused on batters sometimes. Rishabh Pant, who has been mostly blessed in his life at the crease, top-scored with 42 off 31 balls, his signature unorthodox swings yielding better returns than orthodox strokes.
India had lost the plot severely, although they were well positioned at 89/3 in 11 overs at one stage. With their outstanding bowling, Naseem, Haris, and Mohammad Amir set off an incredible collapse in which India lost their final seven wickets for a just thirty runs. India lost hitters to bad shots when trying to attack in the middle overs, and they continued to pick outfielders, which prevented them from forming partnerships.
Rain caused a 30-minute delay, but Rohit Sharma started the game by stunning Shaheen Shah Afridi with a wrist flip that resulted in a six. After 29 minutes, Virat Kohli got things rolling with a stunning cover drive for four runs, as the rain returned to end India’s innings at eight for no loss in the opening over.
However, Kohli recovered to earn up a point after Naseem’s wide delivery. The following over, Rohit was caught by deep square leg after mishandling a pick-up drive off Shaheen. Before the batsman cut and ramped Shaheen for four and six, respectively, Amir defeated Axar Patel’s outside edge three times in as many deliveries.
However, Pant was extremely fortunate as he easily outscored Iftikhar Ahmed at slip for four off Amir with a strong outside edge. India ended a thrilling power play at 50/2 when Usman Khan followed up with a wristy flick at cover that took a top edge, and Pant’s effort to drive again took an outside edge that flew over Iftikhar for four more.
Axar attempted to replicate the shot against Naseem by skipping down the pitch to drive over Iftikhar’s head for four, but he misplayed the ball and was trapped. On 17, Pant once more managed to survive as Usman squandered an opportunity to capture his top edge on the slog-sweep off Imad Wasim.
But, Pant’s situation drastically shifted after Haris’ tenth over. A slower ball was lofted over mid-off by him, and he fell to paddle over short fine leg. He then flicked in the same area to pick three fours, then he produced a beautiful reverse sweep off Imad to pick another boundary.
However, Pakistan recovered when Shivam Dube chipped a straightforward catch to Naseem off his own bowling and Suryakumar Yadav picked out mid-off against Amir. When Amir misplayed a loft and moved to his left, mid-off caught him, and on two successive deliveries, Ravindra Jadeja chipped straight to short mid-off, Pant was finally out of luck.
With consecutive balls that saw Jasprit Bumrah hit straight to short cover and Hardik Pandya flip to deep backward square leg, Pakistan made sure India couldn’t finish their innings. Babar Azam’s run-out of Arshdeep Singh made sure that India’s innings concluded with one over remaining.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 113/7 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 31, Bumrah 3/14, Pandya 2/24) lost to India 119 in 19 overs (Rishabh Pant 42; Naseem Shah 3-21, Haris Rauf 3-21).
