The law of averages had to catch up with India sooner or later after winning seven ODIs and five T20 World Cup games for the first time in Sydney in 1992.
Achievement: | as it happened | Mark sheet
that one day when Virat Kohli Scored a half-century but pales in comparison to Babar (68 not out off 52 balls), who was royal in attack, elegant in defense and chasing a target of 152 runs, which was achieved in 17.5 overs.
What is worse is that India has never lost a T20 International match by 10 wickets and Pakistan won by such a margin for the first time, and what a chance to achieve this feat.
Babur was enthusiastic Mohammad Rizwani (79 not out from 55 balls) to match their cool quotient as Pakistan looked like a blast, not once during the entire match. Between them, he hit 12 fours and five sixes to make it a ‘Super Sunday’ for Pakistan.
(AP Photo)
On that day, there was only one team that could win and that was Pakistan, who were better than each and every Indian player in a one-on-one encounter.
It started with the captains. On a track where Kohli was struggling, Babar easily found gaps and hit those sixes as release shots when required.
Had India lost three wickets in the powerplay, Pakistan would have humiliated their rivals with an opening stand that would be billed as one of the best in the format for years to come.
Pakistan register their first win against India in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup!🇵🇰🙌#WeHaveWeWill https://t.co/gsr5ooBcNe
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) 1635096854000
If Shaheen Shah Afridi was a rockstar with his quick pace and quick swing, his new-ball counterpart Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled at 120 kmph without any swing.
Pakistan’s spin trio of left-arm Imad Wasim (0/10 in 2 overs), leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/22 in 4 overs) and off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez (0/12 in 2 overs) conceded only 44 runs. In their eight overs together, Varun Chakraborty (0/33 in 4 overs) had no ‘secret’ about him as he and Ravindra Jadeja (0/28 in 4 overs) conceded 61 runs.
If there was one team that felt the pressure it was India because Babar looked like a guy sitting in that Indian dressing room who had no control over the proceedings.
Spirit of Cricket!! https://t.co/pH6UfrRcKf
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) 1635097825000
In the chase, Pakistan looked to be in complete control and Bhuvneshwar’s lack of pace and non-existent swing made it easy for Rizwan to smash him over square leg for a six. Captain Babar was also elegant as he punched Mohammed Shami on the back-foot and shoved Jadeja back for a six over deep mid-wicket.
50 runs came in the 8th over and before India realized it, the duo snatched the game by making the biggest opening stand ever against India in T20 Internationals.
When India batted, Kohli found support from Rishabh Pant (39 off 30 balls) during his 53-run stand but had to do the heavy lifting in the pressure cooker scenario, something he has been accustomed to for the past decade.
His innings contained five fours and a six as India posted a score that gave the bowlers something to fight for at least on a pitch that could not be said to be batting friendly.
One of the most exciting fast bowlers, Shaheen produced two unplayable deliveries at the greatest of pressure, which would have made it difficult for any batsman to negotiate.
The toughest delivery from a left-arm fast bowler is one that catches the line only when the batsman is at an angle.
In Rohit (0)’s case, he was pitched over a block hole and straightened out before he could adjust his footwork. It caught him plumb from the front.
KL Rahul (3) thought the ball would go straight but it shaped his defense to breach and disturb the off-stump.
Suryakumar Yadav (11) hit a six off Shaheen at backward square leg and a four off Imad Wasim (0/10 in 2 overs), but Hasan Ali bowled a back of that length, which he tried to cut. It was thrown and Mohammad Rizwan did the diving. Pouched it behind the stumps.
Pant joined Kohli as the power play score read a disastrous 36 for three. He added 53 runs in 6.4 overs and found some momentum in a thrilling stand dominated by the left-hander.
The Indian captain shows Shaheen, who is the boss, as he shuffles towards the leg-stump to make room and smashes it straight into his team’s dug-out.
For Hasan Ali, he reserved an excellent square drive before Pant took over the show, partially stabilizing the initial rot.
Seeing that a fielder has been placed at ’45’, Pant first played a lap shot to leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/22 in 4 overs) and then back-cut to Mohammad Hafeez from the middle-stump for two boundaries. did.
But the real fun came when he dismissed Hasan for two sixes in one hand.
Shadab had the last laugh as a wrong slog sweep turned into a return catch.
Kohli, who was playing the second fiddle, then took charge as he attacked Hasan with a pull-shot and then played a cover drive as 10 runs came off the 16th over.
However, the Pakistani bowlers didn’t do much at death to keep the score under control, which should go to Harris Rauf (1/25 in four overs).
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