India comprehensively defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in an Asia Cup encounter in Dubai on Wednesday.
India comprehensively defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in an Asia Cup encounter in Dubai on Wednesday.
Winning the toss, Sarfraz Ahmed without thinking twice opted to bat considering the hot weather.
Batting first, Pakistan were bowled out for 162 in 43.1 overs with Babar Azam contributing 47 and Shoaib Malik scored 43. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav took three wickets apiece while Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets.
In reply, skipper Rohit Sharma scored 52 off 39 balls while Shikhar Dhawan contributed 46 off 54 balls with India reaching the target in 29 overs.
Here are 5 moments that changed the game into India’s favour:
1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s two early strikes
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Indian pacer, who was struggling to find form with the ball, finally delivered when it was needed with dismissals of Pakistan’s opening pair of Imam-Ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman. Prior to the Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan on Wednesday, Imam had scored two centuries in his previous three innings. On the other hand, Fakhar was the Player of the Match of ICC Champions Trophy 2017, which India had lost. Hence, these early dismissals put India ahead at the very beginning of the innings. Bhuvi ended with figures of 3 for 15 in 7 overs. PC: PTI
2. Shoaib Malik’s runout
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Shoaib maintaining his strong reputation of always playing well against these opponents added 82 runs for the third wicket with Babar Azam. It was the 27th over; Asif Ali tapped the ball to cover-point and sprinted for a single. Ambati Rayudu attacked the ball, picked it up and hit the bull’s eye at the bowler’s end as Shoaib tried to drag it back in. He didn’t even try to dive in and as a result fell short of the crease. PC: AFP
3. Super Sub Manish’s spectacular catch to dismiss Sarfraz
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Manish Pandey, who is yet to get a game in the ongoing Asia Cup, was called in as a substitute fielder after Hardik Pandya was stretchered out due to a lower back injury. Soon after Babar Azam was dismissed, Pakistan needed its skipper to stay on and build a crucial partnership. However, Sarfraz couldn’t resist cutting a full ball from Kedar Jhadav. While Sarfraz suggested Manish Pandey took an absolute stunner at wide long on. PC: AFP
4. Part-timer Kedar Jadhav spun Pakistan with 3 wickets
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There was hardly any moment during Pakistan’s innings when Kedar wasn’t involved. Although everyone have been crediting Manish Pandey for Sarfraz’s dismissal, one must not ignore the bowler and it was none other than Kedar. He followed that with two more scalps when he dismissed Asif Ali and Shadab Khan. PC: AFP
5. Rohit and Dhawan give India a flying start
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Although the target was just 163 runs, in a game of cricket anything is possible and which is why it was crucial that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India the required start. The two exactly did that as India lost its first wicket only at 86 for 1. After scoring a superb half-century, Rohit got out off an excellent googly slipped through his defence from the young spinner Shadab Khan. Eventually, Dhawan also got out but the two had done their job by then as India managed a comfortable eight-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan on Wednesday. PC: AFP
