Mohammad Rizwan scored a sublime fifty while Mohammad Nawaz produced an all-round show to help Pakistan beat India by five wickets in another nail-biter at the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 in Super 4 stage on Sunday. The Pakistan duo shared a crucial 73-run stand in the tricky 182-run chase as the Indian bowlers struggled on a flat Dubai track.
Asif Ali (16) and Khushdil Shah (14*) added the finishing touches to help Pakistan chase down the target with a delivery to spare. The duo had already brought down the equation to 7 off 6 after a massive 19th over in which they plundered 19 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/40).
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And a four off the second delivery of final over all but sealed the fate. However, Arshdeep Singh trapped Asif lbw off the fourth delivery to add a late twist. However, Iftikhar Ahmed drove a low full toss for a couple to wipe off the deficit.
Rizwan continued his purple patch with the bat and ended up as Pakistan’s highest run-scorer once again in the tournament with a 71-run knock. He struck 6 fours and 2 sixes as he played the anchor role which allowed Nawaz to play with a fearless approach.
Nawaz scored quickfire 42 off 20 balls as his innings was laced with 6 fours and 2 sixes. The duo shifted the momentum in Pakistan’s favour in middle-overs.
Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya claimed a wicket each for India but none of the bowlers failed to make any major impact with the ball. Bhuvneshwar leaked 19 runs from the penultimate over which took the game away from India’s reach.
Pakistan started the chase with a positive start from skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batter Rizwan. However, Babar failed to score big once again and was dismissed on 14 after playing a couple of quality shots. It was Bishnoi who got the better of the Pakistan captain with a soft dismissal in his first over as Rohit Sharma took an easy catch to send him back to hut.
Fakhar Zaman struggled to match the intensity of the game and was dismissed by Chahal on 15 off 18 balls. Rizwan then joined hands with Nawaz to take on the Indian bowlers. The left-right combination worked well in Pakistan’s favour as the Indian bowlers struggled to cause any major concern.
However, in the 16th over, Bhuvneshwar sent Nawaz back into the pavilion to pull India back in the game. Hardik joined the party by dismissing Rizwan soon to put Pakistan under pressure.
Earlier, the much-criticised Team India top-order batters finally showed what they are capable of as they put up a stiff 181 for 7 against Pakistan in an Asia Cup Super 4 match here on Sunday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (28) and KL Rahul (28) gave the Men in Blue a thrilling start in the powerplay, while Virat Kohli (60) gave glimpses of his vintage self by playing one of his most sublime knocks in recent times to take India to a more than respectable total.
Kohli looked in sublime touch during his 60-run knock which stabilized the Indian innings as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals during the high-octane clash.
Pakistan spinner Mohammad Nawaz (1/25) and Shadab Khan (2/31) managed to put a brake on the scoring rate after powerplay overs. The spin duo worked their magic but Kohli stood strong and tackled them with his smart running between the wickets. Hero of the last match Suryakumar Yadav failed to emulate the same on Sunday and was dismissed on just 13, while flamboyant wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant who got a chance over Dinesh Karthik also failed to score big and departed on 14.
Hardik Pandya (0) and Deepak Hooda (16) also failed to provide the finishing touch to the innings as Kohli fought hard till the final over where he was dismissed on 60 courtesy of a run-out.
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