India and Pakistan produced an absolute thriller in their T20 World Cup 2022 opener at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday (October 23).
In the high-voltage match, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan rode on Shan Masood’s 52 not out off 42 balls and Iftikhar Ahmed’s 34-ball 51 to post 159/8 on the board.
Arshdeep Singh (3-32) and Hardik Pandya (3-30) were the pick of the bowlers for India, picking three wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-22) and Mohammad Shami (1-25) also bowled economically and returned with one scalp each.
Chasing the target, the Men in Blue got over the line on the last delivery. India were tottering at 31/4 at one stage but the match still went down to the wire thanks to Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
For the Indian batters, the equation eventually came down to 16 off the last over against Mohammad Nawaz. While Hardik (40 off 37 balls) was dismissed on the first delivery, Kohli didn’t lose his composure and smashed Nawaz for a six and then ran three to put his team on the verge of victory.
On the fifth ball, Dinesh Karthik got out stumped but then Nawaz ended up bowling wide which tied the game while R Ashwin hit the last delivery for a four to seal the deal for India.
For his match-winning knock of 82 not out in 53 balls (6 fours and 4 sixes), the international cricket fraternity showered rich praise on Virat Kohli.
Here are the tweets:
