Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s three-wicket hauls helped Pakistan restrict India to 119 in the high-voltage match of the T20 World Cup at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday.
Pakistan came with a strong bowling attack giving Indian batters little room to go for their shorts.
After winning the toss Babar Azam-led Pakistan asked India to bat first.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opened for the Men in Blue and Shaheen Afridi started the attack for Pakistan.
Rohit stunned the Pakistani pacer in the first over as he slammed a six over the deep square leg. India had a great start to the match as they ended the first over with 8/0 on the scoreboard.
The game was stopped as rain played a spoilsport after the first six balls. After the game resumed, Kohli slammed a four towards the covers. However, the Indian talisman batter’s knock had to come to an end after Naseem Shah removed Kohli in the third ball of the second over for four runs. Rishabh Pant replaced Kohli on the crease.
After Kohli’s dismissal, India lost their momentum as in the third over Afridi removed Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma for 13 runs.
Axar Patel replaced Rohit on the crease. Mohammad Amir came for Pakistan in the fourth over and gave only four runs. The pair of Pant and Axar found it hard to score runs against Amir.
In the second ball of the sixth over, Usman Khan dropped Pant’s catch on the covers. Amir gave 12 runs in the last over of the powerplay.
India reached the 50-run mark after the end of the powerplay.
After playing few risky shots, Pant played a stunning shot over bowlers head for four in the seventh over.
Naseem Shah bagged his second wicket after he removed Axar Patel for 20 runs in the fourth ball of the eighth over. The Pakistani bowler was succesfull to break the 39-run partnership of Axar and Pant.
Suryakumar Yadav replaced Axar on crease. Soon after coming on the pitch, Suryakumar pressed the ball forward for a four.
The Men in Green continued display a sluggish performance with their field as Usman Khan missed Pant’s catch over the mid-wicket. The India wicketkeeper-batter continued to test his luck.
Pant dominated Haris Rauf in the 10th over as he smashed two fours in consecutive balls. Rauf gave away 13 runs in the 10th over.
India stood at 81/3 in the midway of the first inning.
Haris Rauf bagged his first wicket of the match after he removed Suryakumar Yadav for seven runs in the second ball of the 12th over.
Shivam Dube replaced Suryakumar on the crease.
Dube failed to make a mark in his first match against Pakistan as Naseem Shah removed the allrounder for just three runs in the second ball of the 14th over. Hardik Pandya replaced Dube.
Mohammad Amir removed dangerous Rishabh Pant from the crease in the first ball of the 15th over. Babar Azam took his catch from mid-off. Pant was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja on the crease.
In the second ball of the 15th over, Amir removed Jadeja after the Indian all-rounder placed the ball on the short cover and Imad Wasim made no mistake to take the catch. Amir was on a hattrick but Arshdeep Singh managed to negate it.
The 15th over was crucial as Pakistan made a comeback in the game after bagging two wickets. Amir gave only one run in the over as India struggled to cross the 100-run mark.
Hardik Pandya failed to make a mark again as he was removed by Haris Rauf for seven runs in the fourth ball of the 18th over. Bumrah replaced Hardik but the star India pacer was removed by Haris in the sixth ball of the 18th over.
Arshdeep Singh was removed from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the last ball of the 19th over and India could score 119 runs.
Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were the top bowlers for Pakistan. Mohammad Amir bagged two wickets in his four-over spell and Shaheen Afridi took one wicket.
Brief score: India 119 (Rishabh Pant 42, Axar Patel 20, Rohit Sharma 13; Haris Rauf 3/21) vs Pakistan. (ANI)
