India opened their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a statement win over traditional rivals Pakistan in Dubai, UAE. Chasing 148-run target, Hardik Pandya scored match-winning 33* runs to help India register a 5-wicket victory.
India won the match with 5 wickets to spare as they successfully chased down the target of 148 runs set by Pakistan.
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The Men in Blue marched on to bag the victory riding on contributions from Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya, who scored 35, 35 and 33 respectively to wrap the game up with a couple of deliveries to spare.
It was a milestone game for Indian as Rohit Sharma’s boys cleaned out the Pakistani batting order.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star with the ball as he scalped four Pakistan batsmen. Hardik Pandya made his mark with a brilliant spell of 4 wickets for 25 runs. Arshdeep Singh picked up 2 wickets while Avesh Khan picked out the remaining solitary wicket to bowl out the opposition.
India picked up all 10 Pakistani wickets on offer as they restricted Babar Azam’s side for 147, India were off to a shaky start as KL Rahul went back to the pavilion without having scored any runs.
Asia Cup 2022 India vs Pakistan Match Highlights
Rohit Sharma stayed at the crease longer than Rahul did as he put up 12 runs on the board off his willow before being caught by Ifthikar Ahmed off Mohammed Nawaz’s delivery.
But, Kohli played a patient innings to slow down the tempo of the game before Jadeja and Pandya established a strong partnership that took the game away from the opponents.
“We wanted to play till the end, they have a very good bowling attack, their fast bowlers don’t give anything away,” Jadeja said after his crucial innings.
“I could have finished the game – left-arm spinner against a left-hander, but Hardik played superbly.”
The southpaw was all praise for the Player of the Match Hardik who proved his worth to the team with the bat and the ball.
“He came out and said he was going to play his shots, and happy that he stayed till the end,” said Jadeja about Pandya’s match-winning innings, as the man from Choryasi, wrapped up things in style with a brilliant shot as he saw the ball sail over the boundary.
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