Ind vs Pak: India beat Pakistan in a thrilling encounter as the match went down to wire till the last ball of the match. It was one of the best cricket match ever played in the T20 World Cup. India won the match by 4 wickets on the last ball of the match. Virat Kohli played a remarkable innings of 82 runs off 53 balls. He remained unbeaten and took India over the line in a high intensity and nail-biting match. Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya made significant 40 runs off 37 balls in a much needed time. India started their World Cup campaign on a high. It will definitely boost their team and will help them in a upcoming matches.
Ind vs Pak: Rohit won the toss and decided to bowl first
Ind vs Pak: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first. Looking at the conditions of the pitch Indian skipper took a good decision. Indian opening bowlers proved their skipper right and took the full advantage of the freshness of the wicket.
Arshdeep Singh dismissed Pakistan skipper for a golden duck on his very first ball of the match as well as of his World Cup. It was a impeccable full swinging incoming delivery which caught the Babar in front of the wicket and got out lbw. Arshdeep came with his second over and troubled Muhammad Rizwan with his varieties. He doesn’t hold his nerve for a while tried to play a pull shot but he got the top edge and goes into the hand of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Pakistan was looking in deep trouble as they lost their both reliable batters inside the 3 overs. Their score was 2/14 after 3 overs. India was all over the Pakistan. Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed played sensibly and took the team to the respective total of 159.
Iftikhar Ahmed scored 51 runs off 34 balls. He played the aggressive role and hits 2 fours and 4 sixes in his crucial innings. They both made a partnership of 76 runs. Shan Masood played till the innings and made unbeaten 52 off 42 balls.
Ind vs Pak: Hardik and Arshdeep restricted Pakistan to the reasonable score
Pakistan were cruising at the moment when they were 90/2 in 12 overs despite of dismissing both Babar and Rizwan early. Rohit Sharma introduced Hardik Pandya in the middle overs and he delivered with the ball. Hardik took 3 wickets for 30 runs from his 4 overs quota. He dismissed Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Muhammad Nawaz in quick succession to break the backbone of Pakistan.
Young Arshdeep Singh also claimed 3 crucial wickets including Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and wicket-keeper Muhammad Rizwan. This was his first presence in World Cup and he impressed everyone with talent. It was not easy for him to play in front of 90,000+ spectators and that too in the World Cup against Pakistan.
India begun their chase as they known for against Pakistan
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started the chase of 160 runs. Soon, young Pakistan bowler Naseem Shah dismissed KL Rahul for 4 runs. Rahul nicked back on to the stump and got out. We have seen KL Rahul many times he got out in that similar passion against pacers but he is not learning from his mistakes. India were cautious with bat against the Pakistan pacers. But their bowler came with the different plans. Rohit were looking very cautious and focused against inswing deliveries. We can clearly observed that he came with different batting technique to avoid inswing balls. But the almighty had decided something else for him. He got out to outswing delivery of Haris Rauf.
India were in deep trouble as they lost 4 wickets for 31 runs. Surya Kumar Yadav and Axar Patel went out early in the dugout as well. It was all up to Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya. India could only managed to only 31 runs inside the Powerplay.
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya took the charge
Virat and Hardik played responsibly till the 10th over and assured no more loss of wicket. They both made a partnership of 113 runs in 78 balls. Hardik Pandya made 40 runs off 37 balls with a four and 2 sixes. Meanwhile Virat Kohli scored 82 runs off 53 balls and remained unbeaten. He hits 6 fours and 4 sixes in his innings. India remained calm till the 17th over and took no extra risk. They were knowing that Muhammad Nawaz have to bowl one over in these 3 overs. They waited till the end.
India required 48 off 18 balls
India required 48 runs from last 3 overs. Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Muhammad Nawaz were the bowlers to bowl. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam given the ball to Shaheen Afridi for the 17th over. Former Indian Captain Virat Kohli smashed him for 17 runs including three fours. One over the mid wicket, second four through the lofted cover drive and third over the fine leg. Virat shown the glimpse of his shot range in this over Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan players were down as their best bowler conceded 17 runs in his over which kept the contest alive.
India required 31 runs of 12 balls
Babar Azam thrown the ball to the most economical and impressive bowler of the match, Haris Rauf. Haris Rauf was getting enough bounce, swing and seam from the pitch. He was continuously bowling 145+ and were causing trouble for Indian batter. The first four balls just conceded 3 runs. Virat and Hardik was trying his best but unable to connect the ball. Now India were requiring 28 runs off 8 balls.
It was all up to Virat Kohli to hit a boundary to keep India in the game. Haris bowled the slower length ball to Kohli and he smashed it for 6 through the lofted straight drive. This shot was one of the best of the match. The very next ball he smashed for 6 again over fine leg boundary. Haris bowled this ball with 150+kph but Virat Kohli was quick enough to pick it for 6.
India required 16 off 6 balls
Muhammad Nawaz to bowl the last over. On the very first ball he dismissed Hardik Pandya which dents the Indian hope. The very first ball Dinesh Karthik played for a single. Now, Virat Kohli was on strike and India were requiring 14 runs off 4 balls. Nawaz bowled a high full toss to Virat and he smashed the ball for 6. Square leg umpire called it a No-ball as it was over the waist height. Now Nawaz bowled the free hit ball for wide. Now India needed 7 from 3 balls and he still has to bowl as free hit. Virat gets bowled on the free hit but the ball went to the third man and Virat and Dinesh ran three runs. On the very next ball Dinesh got stumped out by Rizwan to Nawaz. Ashwin came to the crease and finished the match for India.
Virat Kohli gets the Player of the Match Award
It was one of the best innings of Virat Kohli in T20 cricket. He gets the Player of the Match Award for his sensational inning. He turned it on his own. Virat Kohli made it possible which were looking impossible at one time. He scored 82 off 53 balls including 6 fours and 4 sixes. It was a high intensity match and every player were under pressure including substitute and support staff. Crowd was noisy as Kohli was playing Virat inning. He took the Indian team over the line and gave special reason to the supporters to celebrate the festival of Diwali by beating our arch-rivals.
