Match Review

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Virat Kohli’s dismissal very often ends up as the turning point, when the two sides meet each other. While it was gloriously noted in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, this time too, it was no different. After the openers gave India a dynamic start, the onus was on the Indian skipper to convert the start. More often than not, he is on point, with his stroke-making abilities but on afternoons like this, his form has caused a dip in the team’s batting display. His five-ball seven today was just one example of how things turn ugly quickly. 

Highs and Lows

Virat Kohli’s trust on Yuzvendra Chahal is beyond comparison, with the leggie’s trick often leading the side to victory. However, today was not the day, with Chahal going wicketless, conceding 43 runs off his four-over spell. On top of that, he did not even pick up any kind of momentum in the innings. His spell was the difference between India having no chances of getting past their opponent and getting something off their opponents. If he had picked one wicket more, it would have definitely turned the game around. 

Rating Charts

Both the starts were slow but the expectations starkly very different. While it is pertinent that the Indian fans expect their star-studded openers to get themselves off a good start, it was exactly the opposite. They did not lose a wicket, however, they only scored 38 runs, which did not give India any sort of momentum going into the dry phase of a T20I inning. Surely, the duo of Rohit and Rahul should have got them to at least a few more runs. 

Pakistan’s top order, especially, Fakhar Zaman knows a thing or two when it comes to facing the new-ball against India. Today too was no different, as the two openers put up a massive partnership, which also read ‘W’ to the management. In the first six, they scored 48 runs, ten more than their Indian counterparts while losing two wickets. 

The sound of white noise, the damned silence was how you could define the middle-over section of the Indian innings. After putting up 38 runs in the first six overs, they struggled in the next four, losing their top three batsmen. Rohit, Kohli and Rahul were all gone before putting up a substantial score on the board, which eventually was the difference between winning and losing. 

On the other hand, Pakistan’s phase was incredibly clean - with no sort of black mark, barring, of course, the blemish of losing the Professor. However, apart from that, they were just running away with the big-clash, with no chance that even jinxing the game. Not even the remotest of chance that Pakistan could do a Pakistan and give India a victory, with Malik batting in the middle. 

It is definitely mystifying to see how bad Pakistan bowled towards the latter half of the innings. After reducing India to 124/4, surely you are not expecting the hosts to blob it up big time. But on this occasion, they did, massively, conceding 62 runs in the last thirty deliveries. That not only propelled the confidence in the Indian dressing room, but it also gave them enough to put up 162 runs on the board at the end of their innings.  

Both the teams were indeed fighting for this one - who could bowl it worse in the death. While Pakistan did an incredible job at it, conceding 62 runs, India tried their level best towards the end. Saddening to see that if India had added another 20 runs on board, they could have levelled it up towards the end. However, without that, they conceded 42 runs in less than three overs, signalling the end of their domination.

The game had segments worthy of T20I cricket, with the late onslaught in the Indian innings, where India got to 162 for the loss of five wickets. In the second innings, the show was run by the experienced Shoaib Malik, who’s innings surely gave the home fans a lot of things to cheer about. Not only did their veteran lead them to a victory but a convincing win against arch-rivals.