Match Review

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India have seldom won big matches where they have lost Kohli and Rohit early and today was no different. The target was a modest 140, but the pitch being tricky meant that they needed their big guns to fire. However, they lost both Rohit and Kohli for scores of 0 and 1 and at 1/2, it looked like the writing was on the wall for the Indians.

Highs and Lows

Concerns over the ability of Rohit and Kohli to deliver under pressure have continued to grow over the years and unfortunately, the duo did not do any good to their reputation today, adding a total of 1 run between them. Their dismissal put India in a precarious position and once again, the responsibility fell on the heads of the younger players to clean the mess made by the seniors.

Rating Charts

A first-ball boundary from Fakhar Zaman brought back haunting memories from CT 2017 for the Indians, but unlike three years ago, Jasprit Bumrah’s discipline was bang on target as he rocked Pakistan, dismissing both Zaman and Hafeez inside the first three overs. Rocked early by two dismissals, Pakistan failed to cope with India’s impeccable bowling and eventually ended up losing a staggering four wickets inside the first powerplay, to find themselves at 33/4 at the end of 6th over.

India, of late, have shared a love-hate relationship with chasing low totals and today was one of the unfortunate days when their big dogs went AWOL as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed for 0 and 1 respectively, by the left-armers Shaheen and Amir. However, what followed the dismissals was not a collapse, and some level headed batting by KL Rahul, as the Karnataka man took charge to arrest the fall of wickets. Batting safely, together with Shreyas Iyer, Rahul took India to 29/2 at the end of the powerplay.

Having lost four wickets inside the powerplay, it was always going to be difficult for Pakistan to combat the spin of India and in the quest to do so, the Men in Green adopted an ultra-cautious approach, scoring just 22 runs between overs 7 to 11. Asif Ali provided resistance by counter-punching the Indians every now and then, but it was a one-man battle as the Indians found it all too easy to tighten the noose at the other end - for six overs. The last three overs, however, saw the tide turn in favour of Pakistan, as Ali and Imad Wasim collected 27 runs to ensure that their team ended up scoring 55 runs in the middle-over phase.

Rahul’s untimely dismissal on the very first ball post the powerplay spelt trouble for the Indians, who were left to rely on the inexperienced duo of Iyer and Pant to fend off the rampant Pakistan attack. At 40/3, a target of 140 seemed well within reach but within no time, the 140 started to look like 180 as a double-strike from Shadab Khan reduced India to 42/5, with both Iyer and Pandya departing. Post the duo’s dismissal, India went into a shell, scoring just 19 runs between overs 9 and 13, before a late flourish from Pant and Thakur gave the side some sort of a boost. But Pant departed and India ended the 15th over on 79/6, having scored just 50 runs in the phase.

The Indian bowlers headed into the death overs at a pretty convincing position, but it did not take them long to almost completely squander the advantage they’d worked hard to gain. A 9-run 15th over from Chahal was followed by an erratic 18-run over from Shardul Thakur and, after threatening to get bowled out cheaply at one stage, Pakistan looked on course to breach the 150-mark. Eventually India pulled things back and dismissed Asif Ali, but the damage was done by then as Pakistan accumulated 51 runs off the last 5 overs to propel their total to 139.

Having dismissed all of India’s recognized specialist batsmen, Pakistan were firm favorites heading into the final five, with India still needing 61 to win, but a six from Thakur on the very first ball of the phase rocked the Men in Green. However, that turned out to be nothing but an odd blip, as after keeping Thakur in check, an extraordinary 17th over from Shadab, who conceded just four runs, raised India’s required rate to 16. Eventually, the pace of Shaheen and Amir proved too much for the Indian tail, who fell short of the target by 22 runs.

The initial stages of the match suggested that it was going to follow the same old pattern with India routing Pakistan, but things took a wild turn with time as the Men in Green staged a remarkable comeback. The air of uncertainty surrounding the result itself made the contest a riveting one.