Team India began their Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a positive note as they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in a nail-biter at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (August 28).
Invited to bat first, Pakistan were bowled out for 147 in 19.5 overs. Mohammad Rizwan was the top scorer with 42-ball 43 while Iftikhar Ahmed (28 off 22 balls), Shahnawaz Dahani (16 off 6) and Haris Rauf (13* off 7) chipped in with handy contributions.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-26) and Hardik Pandya (3-25) were the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, sharing even wickets between them. Young pacer Arshdeep Singh (2-33) also returned with a couple of scalps while Avesh Khan (1-19) managed to claim a wicket.
In reply, the Men in Blue got off to a terrible start as Naseem Shah bowled KL Rahul for a first-ball duck. The duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma added 49 runs for the second wicket to steady the ship.
Mohammad Nawaz broke the dangerous looking partnership by dismissing the Indian captain on 12. The left-arm spinner also got rid of Kohli (35 off 34 balls) on successive deliveries to leave India reeling at 53/3.
Amid the pressure situation, Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav forged a 36-run stand to bail the team out of trouble. Just when it seemed that the pair will take the match away from Pakistan, Naseem Shah struck once again, castling Suryakumar on 18.
With 59 needed off 34 balls, Hardik Pandya arrived in the middle and added a crucial 52-run partnership with Jadeja to put India on the brink of victory. In particular, Hardik was severe on the Pakistani bowlers as he smashed Haris Rauf for three boundaries in the penultimate over to make the equation – 7 runs off 6 balls.
Nawaz was given the responsibility to defend 7 runs in the final over. While he dismissed Jadeja (35 off 29 balls) on the very first delivery, Pandya (33* off 17 balls) held the one end firmly and smashed his fourth delivery for a six over long-on to seal the deal for India.
Indian cricket fraternity was overjoyed after Rohit Sharma and company defeated the arch-rivals in a thriller.
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