Dubai 29 August : Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja’s bravery with the bat was instrumental in helping India beat Pakistan with five wickets, winning their first match in Group A in Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.After Pakistan were 147 all-out in 19.5 overs, India needed 59 off the final six overs on an uni-paced pitch.Then, Pandya (33 not out) and Jadeja (35) shared an innings of 52 runs in only 29 balls.
Even even though left-handed Jadeja was unable to catch the ball in the third over, Pandya capped off the match with a six-over long-on to get India to victory and create a new amazing story in the story of India-Pakistan battles.
Similar to Pakistan, India had an exciting first over.
The debutant pacer Naseem Shah struck on just his second T20I ball, when K.L Rahul slid inside-edged towards his stumps.Virat Kohli, who was playing in his 100th T20I was snubbed by Fakhar Zaman at the second slip, while chasing an open one.Kohli was in a state of anxiety in his first innings as a lot of edges both outside and inside were thrown out of his bat.
He displayed indications of his authority when he hit the mid-wicket of Shahnawaz Dahani in the second over.After a top edge went over the head of the keeper for the six, Kohli’s power was evident in his slash across cover and a slash over mid-wicket to secure two boundaries.
Rohit Sharma, who was cautious up to the time he opened up in eighth over after he took a slog-swept Mohammad Nawaz over long-on.The left-arm spinner got the last laugh when Rohit fell to long-off on the last ball of the over.
In his next ball, Nawaz had another big loss as Kohli hit straight towards long-off.
Jadeja began his journey at number four by slamming Nawaz down the field for an six of 98m.He along with Suryakumar Yadav scored four each, and relied heavily on strike rotation in order to keep the scoreboard in motion.
The 36-run stand was ended by Naseem who smashed off Suryakumar’s off-stump with the ball of his second innings.
With 41 required from the final four overs Jadeja and Hardik Pandya were hung in for a quick increase in the total to 32 after the final three overs.Similar to India, Pakistan too were penalized for an inefficient over rate because one fielder was added into the 30-year-old circle.
In the meantime, Pakistan were struggling as their pacers suffered cramps and Jadeja got through an lbw appeal from Naseem Shah, who appeared in discomfort after a review revealed the ball was pitching beyond the leg-stump.The ball that followed, Jadeja lofted with a straight bat to the ground to score six as India required 21 runs from the last two balls.
In the 3rd ball of the 19th over, Pandya flat-batted Haris Rauf over extra-cover and scored an extra-cover boundary.Babar was chasing the ‘all but he couldn’t stop it from striking the boundary rope.
Pandya then swung Rauf over long-on wide and then threw out an eagle-jab on the last ball to score an all-splitting deep mid-wicket as well as a long-on for a perfect shot.
With seven required off the last over Nawaz hit the ball on the opening delivery after Jadeja was clean bowled when taking a long slow-down.
Pandya ended the game in fashion by slamming Nawaz over the long-on boundary to win an intense match.
Brief scores: Pakistan 147 all out in 19.5 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 43, Iftikhar Ahmed 28; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-26, Hardik Pandya 3-24) lost to India 148-5 in 19.4 overs (Virat Kohli 35, Ravindra Jadeja 35; Mohammad Nawaz 3-33, Naseem Shah 227) with five wickets
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