Hardik Pandya’s all-round brilliance powered India to a thrilling five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in an Asia Cup game on Sunday.
Pandya ended with figures of 3/25 in 4 overs while restricting Pakistan to 147 in 19.5 overs and then smashed 33 not out off 17 balls with the winning six in the last over bowled by left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz. Ravindra Jadeja contributed with 35 off 29 balls
Pakistan got off to a perfect start as Naseem Shah removed KL Rahul for a golden duck. Virat Kohli was then dropped for zero in the same over. A sensational opening over revived hopes in the Pakistan camp but Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added 49 runs to stabilise the Indian innings. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 12 by Mohammad Nawaz before a poor shot by Virat Kohli ended his good knock of 35.
Earlier, Sensational spells by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya helped India bowl out Pakistan for 147. Bhuvneshwar set the tone early by removing Babar Azam early before a barrage of short balls by Hardik Pandya saw Pakistan lose three wickets for 10 runs in the middle overs. From 87-2, Pakistan collapsed to 114-7 before a handy 19-run partnership between Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf helped Pakistan reach 147, still way below par. This was after India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that is expected to assist the seamers. India had surprisingly dropped Rishabh Pant from the team and have gone in with Dinesh Karthik. Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan will form the pace attack along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Pakistan look to play off the first couple of overs.
IND vs PAK Playing 11s
India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Pakistan: Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani.
