ISLAMABAD: History repeated itself once again as India beat Pakistan by 7 wickets in the high-voltage but one-sided ICC World Cup contest being played at Ahmadabad, India on Saturday. India outclassed Pakistan in almost all departments, including batting and bowling, to register a consecutive 8th win against Pakistan in the World Cup history.
Despite chasing a low total of 192 to win, Indian openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma took a flying start and grabbed 22 runs in the first two overs. However, in the 3rd over of the inning, Shaheen Afridi removed Shubman Gill on 16 when Shadab took a stunning catch on point. However, despite the first loss, Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli dominated against Pakistani bowlers and completed the first 50 runs in just 7 overs. Both take the innings to 72 in just 9 overs, taking away the match from Pakistan. In the 10th over, Hasan Ali succeeded to remove Virat Kohli on 16. Virat was replaced by number four batter Shreyas Iyer who along with Rohat, took the side towards the total. In the 14th over, Rohit Sharma completed his half-century. In the same over, India managed to reach 100 runs, making the remaining target just a cup of tea in the remaining overs. The Indian side was eyeing to reach the target in just 24 or 24 overs. In the 22nd over the inform Rohit Sharma was dismissed on 86 while facing just 63 balls. Until then, the damage has been done. India were required just 36 runs in 28 overs with below 2 runs per over. After Rohit, Iyer was joined by another inform batsman, K.L.Rahul. After 26 overs, India were needed 24 runs in 24 overs as the score reached 168 for 3. Iyer also completed his half-century with style. Both the batters completed the chase while remaining unbeaten in 30.3 overs with 19.03 overs to spare.
From Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi took two wickets while Hasan Ali grabbed just one wicket. Haris Rauf, Muhammad Nawaz and Shadaf Khan remained wicketless.
Pakistan Batting
Earlier, winning the toss, India invited Pakistan to bat first. Both openers took a solid start and took the score to 40 in the first 7 overs. However, at 41, Pakistan lost their first wicket when Abdullah Shafiq was dismissed on 20. Imam was joined by Babar Azam, and both the players drove the inning forward. Both batters managed to accelerate the inning with the run rate of about 5 runs per over. However, Indian bowlers managed to get rid of Imam in the 13th over of the game. Imam scored 36 runs of 38 balls. Babar was joined by inform Muhammad Rizwan. Both batters consolidated the innings and took their side to 150 in the 29th over. Babar Azam also completed his half-century, but in the next over, he was removed by Muhammad Siraj.
The dismissal of Babar Azam was the turning point in the Pakistani innings. After Babar, Pakistan lost quick wickets in a couple of overs as Indian bowlers succeeded in taking wickets almost in every over from over number 30 to 36. At this stage, Pakistan lost the wickets of Saud Shakil, Iftikhar, Muhammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, and Hasan Ali. Rizwan was the second leading scorer after Babar and added 47 runs to the total.
In a couple of overs later, the whole team went to the pavilion on 191 in 42.5 overs.
Indian Bowling Against Pakistan
On a flat track, Indian bowlers managed to restrict Pakistan to a low total. Despite a decent start from Pakistan, the Indian bowlers managed to introduce their plan B, and they started to ball in the middle of the wicket. The strategy worked out; they took wickets with intervals. As a result, they dismissed the opponent in 42.5 over. From India, Bumra, Sira, Pandiya, Jadeja and Yadav took 2 wickets each.
Pakistan Team: Abdullah Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Muhammad Rizwan, Saud Shaikl, Iftikhar Ahmad, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi.
India Team: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul †, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj
