Shaheer Ahmed
India vs Pakistan, Highlights: Hardik Pandya’s all-round brilliance powered India to a thrilling five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in an Asia Cup game on Sunday. Pandya ended with figures of 3/25 in 4 overs while restricting Pakistan to 147 in 19.5 overs and then smashed 33 off 17 balls with the winning six in the last over bowled by left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz.
Ravindra Jadeja contributed with 35 off 29 balls. When India bowled, senior seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the best figures of 4 for 26. When India chased, former skipper Virat Kohli scored 35 off 34 balls. Naseem Shah was Pakistan’s best bowler with figures of 2/27.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan: 147 all out in 19.5 overs (Mohammed Rizwan 43, Hardik Pandya 3/25, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/26).
India 148 in 19.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 33 no off 17 balls, Ravindra Jadeja 35 off 29 balls)
Even after defeat by India, Pakistani bowling unit won a lot of praise after restricting the strong batting line and making life tough for Indian batters despite a relatively easy target.
Debutant Naseem Shah, who dismissed KL Rahul on the first delivery, and the spinner Nawaz, who took two quick wickets of Rohit and Virat, brought Pakistan back into the game before Indian all-rounders sealed the victory.
However, the news of Naseem’s injury during his last spell shocked cricket fans, as the national team has already suffered two major blows in the form of Shaheen and Wasim, but captain Babar Azam stated that there is nothing to worry about.
The debutant pacer struck in his first over with a magnificent delivery that ended KL Rahul’s innings and then clean bowled Suryakumar Yadav, ending his four-over spell with figures of 2 for 27. Nawaz finished with figures of 3 for 33.
Hardik Pandya was awarded player of the match for his all-round performance. He was brilliant with the ball, taking 3 for 25 and then scoring a quickfire 33 off 17 balls. Ravindra Jadeja also scored 35 runs off 29 balls to help his team to victory.
