The Babar Azam-led Pakistan team on Sunday (October 24) rewrote the history books as they thrashed India by 10 wickets in their opening game of T20 World Cup 2021 to end their losing streak against the arch-rivals in the World Cup events.
It was a perfect outing for Pakistan as they restricted India to 151/7 in 20 overs after winning the toss and bowling first.
Shaheen Afridi ran through India’s top-order, dismissing openers Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3) cheaply. In his second spell, the left-arm pacer removed well-set Virat Kohli for 49-ball 57 and finished with the figures of 3/31 in his four overs.
Shadab Khan (1-22) and Haris Rauf (1-25) also bowled tight spells and chipped with wicket apiece while Hasan Ali and returned with a couple of scalps by conceding 44 runs in his four overs.
Apart from skipper Kohli, India’s batting didn’t click on the day and Rishabh Pant was the second best scorer with 30-ball 39.
In reply, Pakistan chased down the total without breaking a sweat in 17.5 overs with 10 wickets in hand. While wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan stayed unbeaten on 79 off 55 balls (6 fours and 3 sixes), captain Babar Azam finished with 68 not out off 52 balls (6 fours and 2 sixes).
For their dominance showing with both and ball, Pakistan cricket team received rich praise from the Indian cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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