Pakistan brought to an end India’s near-three-decade domination of them in the world stage in the most convincing fashion, embarrassing their arch-rivals by 10 wickets in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
This is Pakistan’s first victory against India in a World Cup game.
Skipper Babar Azam stroked his way to 68 while his opening partner, Mohammad Rizwan, smashed 79 as the Indian bowlers struggled to contain the two batters.
Earlier, Virat Kohli’s half-century helped India recover from a disastrous start and post 151/7 against Pakistan in ICC T20 World Cup match on Sunday. Besides Kohli’s 49-ball 57, Rishabh Pant slammed 39 in 30 deliveries.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and invited India to bat first but the early blows were landed by the men in green as openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul departed within three overs. Kohli and Pant then joined forces to add 53 runs in quick time before the latter was caught out by leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/22 in four overs) off his own bowling in the 13th over.
Shaheen Afridi was awarded the man of the match; his contribution was key as he dispatched Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul and Kohli, blunting India’s attack. However, a controversy over the first innings has already begun stewing on Twitter, with Indian fans claiming that Rahul’s dismissal was on a no-ball.
In the post-match interview, Kohli gave credit to Pakistan for playing well, saying “they definitely outplayed us”.
Brief scores:
India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Afridi 3/31) vs Pakistan.
Pakistan: 152/0 in 17.5 overs (Babar Azam 68 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 79 not out).
India (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
