India 160/6 (20.0) Pakistan 159/8 (20.0)
- Kohli’s masterclass takes India home in a tense finish.
- Pakistan have now won only two of their last eight matches against India
T20 World Cup 2022, India vs Pakistan (IND vs PAK) Highlights: ndia beat Pakistan by four wickets on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The match began at 1:30 pm IST. India won the toss and elected to bowl first. Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan were the Pakistan openers. Pakistan scored 159/8 and India scored 160/6.
In 2021 T20 World Cup, India and Pakistan went head-on against each other thrice where men in green emerged victorious twice. The expectations from the India side are higher as they are looking forward to bounce back and reclaim victory. Speaking of the overall number, India has won 8 matches and Pakistan has won three matches out of 11 T20Is.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (Captain), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
So, where do both teams go from here?
India will now head to Sydney, where they play the Netherlands on Thursday.
Pakistan will fly to Perth to regroup and get their campaign back on track. They face Zimbabwe on Thursday. They can take solace in the potent bowling attack they have and should consider today’s result as an anomaly, as most days, their attack can take down any side when on song.
For those who braved the early start like I did, I am grateful for your company and look forward to you joining us next time.
Where did it go wrong for Pakistan?
India looked down and out at 31 for 4 in the seventh over. The spinning tandem of Nawaz and Shadab did well to build on the previous efforts of the pacers as they looked to throttle the run chase.
Pakistan were very much in the driver’s seat and looked to have the match done and dusted when India were staring down the barrel at 54 needed off the final four overs.
Ultimately, it was the pressure of the occasion and the opposition they were facing which proved to be their downfall.
A fatal combination of deciding when to bowl certain bowlers, and bowling error itself, proved to be the difference as the match descended into the final stages.
Kohli’s calculation to take Rauf on in the penultimate over gave India a fighting chance with 16 needed off the final over, before Nawaz suffered a serious meltdown of no-balls and wides to gift India the victory.
Rohit Sharma speaks:
“I have no voice left. We were always wanting to make sure we stayed in the game as long as possible. We’ve been talking constantly about it. No matter what the situation, you’ve got to believe you can pull through, and that partnership changed the game for us. There was good carry, good swing as well, and we utilised that well up front. That was good to see from the bowling perspective. They batted well in the middle. We knew it would not be an easy target on that pitch. We knew we would have to bat out of our skins. Virat and Hardik are experienced guys. Staying calm and taking it as deep as possible was critical, and they did that. It’s good for our confidence to get off the mark in our first game, and the way we won is more pleasing for us, the way we came back. Hats off to Virat. It has to go off as not one of his best, but the best innings he has played for India. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us, and I will expect nothing less wherever we travel in Australia.”