Sports Reporter :
India registered a thrilling five-wicket win over their arch rivals Pakistan in their first Group-A match of the Asia Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
Chasing Pakistan’s total of 147 runs off 19.5 overs, India sailed home making 148 runs for the loss of five wickets when they had two balls to spare.
India had a poor start as opener KL Rahul was bowled out by Naseem Shah for naught when India’s score was just one.
After Rahul’s removal, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli mended the innings contributing together 49 runs in the second wicket stand before Rohit (12) was caught at the long-off by Iftikhar Ahmed off Mohammad Newaz when India’s score was 50 for the loss of two wickets.
After Rohit’s departure, Kohli was caught at the long-off by Iftikhar Ahmed off Mohammad Newaz when India’s total was 53 for the loss of three wickets.
Kohli scored 35 from 34 balls including three fours and a six.
Second-down Ravindra Jadeja and third-down Suryakumar Yadav built another notable partnership scoring together 46 runs for the fourth wicket partnership before Suryakumar (18) was bowled out by Naseem Shah when India’s score was 89 for the loss of four wickets.
Then, Jadeja and Pandya contributed together a worthy 52 runs for the fifth wicket partnership before Jadeja was bowled out by Mohammad Newaz. Jadeja hit 35 from 29 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Pandya remained unbeaten with 33. His 17-ball innings saw four fours and a sixer.
Mohammad Newaz grabbed three wickets in the space of 33 runs, while Naseem Shah bagged two wickets for 27 runs.
Earlier, Pakistan had a shaky start as opener Babar Azam (10) was caught at the short fine leg by Arshdeep Singh off Bhuvneshwar Kumar when Pakistan’s total was 15.
After Babar’s dismissal, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman repaired the damage contributing together 27 runs for the second wicket partnership before Fakhar (10) was caught behind by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off Avesh Khan when Pakistan’s score was 42 for the loss of two wickets.
After Fakhar’s departure, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed put on together 45 runs in the third-wicket stand before Iftikhar was caught behind by Karthik off Hardik Pandya when Pakistan’s total was 87 for the loss of three wickets.
Iftikhar made 28 from 22 balls featuring two fours and a sixer.
After Iftikhar’s dismissal, Mohammad Rizwan could stay at the crease for a short period as Rizwan was caught at the deep thirdman by Avesh Khan off Pandya when Pakistan’s score was 96 for the loss of four wickets.
Rizwan top-scored with 43. He hit four fours and a sixer in his 42-ball innings.
After Rizwan’s departure, rest of the Pakistani batsmen failed to make any notable partnership against the superb bowling attack of India.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh played the key role to bowl out Pakistan for a modest total.
Kumar captured four wickets in the space of 26 runs, while Pandya grabbed three wickets at the cost of 25 runs and Arshdeep bagged two wickets instead of 33 runs.
Besides, Avesh Khan took one wicket for 19 runs.
