Jasprit Bumrah’s spell of 3-15 was the game-changer as Pakistan collapsed from 73-3 to 102-7 to surrender a six-run defeat to India.
India VS Pakistan is one of the most iconic matches in world cricket, and the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, was the venue to witness another.
Babar Azam won the toss and put the Indians into bat.
Virat Kohli began the Indian’s innings with some confident drives.
But his overconfidence got the better of him at 12-1, as he chipped a square cut straight to Usman Khan at backward point.
Rohit Sharma picked up from where he left against Ireland.
But he could not even carry on, as he chipped a leg stump delivery from Shaheen Afridi straight to fine leg at 19-2.
Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant chance their arm with the Pakistani bowlers.
And Pant was given a life at eight when Usman Khan dropped him.
Patel continued to attack.
But he went for one shot too many and was bowled by Nasem for 20 at 58-3.
Suryakumar Yadav Played some lovely shots.
Pant was given a second life on 17 by Usman.
He punishes them with a four-over extra cover.
And as always, there was one of his cheeky flicks over fine leg.
He toyed with the Pakistani fielders with his sweeps and reverse sweeps.
But just as he was taking the game away from Pakistan, India lost Suryakumar Yadav to Haris Rauf at 89-4.
Shivam Dube followed soon after at 95-5.
Pant’s counter-attacking innings ended on 42 at 96-6, and India were in danger of not making it past 100.
And it got even worse for the men in blue when Jadeja presented a simple catch to Imad Wasim of Mohammed Amir at 96-7.
Arshdeep Singh proved that he could be useful with the bat.
Hardik Pandya also began to take on the bowling.
But hit an attempted flick over the fine leg boundary and found the hands of Iftikhar Ahmed at 112-8.
Rauf made it 2 in 2 by dismissing Bumrah at 112-9.
And India’s dismal innings of 119 was ended by the run out of Arshdeep.
This was surely a below-par score by Sharma’s side, or would there be a twist?
Mohammed Rizwan was given a life on seven when Dube dropped him at Fine Leg.
Pakistan’s Captain began to show his class.
But Bumrah sent him back to the pavilion at 26-1.
Rizwan began to take on the bowling.
Usman was almost run out by Pandya on five.
Rizwan was beginning to take the game away from India.
But Patel got the breakthrough, trapping Usman LBW for 13 at 57-2.
Fakhar Zaman started off his innings brightly.
But his innings did not last long as Pant brilliantly caught him on 13, at 73-3.
Bumrah took the crucial wicket of Rizwan at 80-4.
And Pandya followed it up with the wicket of Shadab Khan at 88-5.
Iftikhar Ahmed was the next man to go at 102-6.
Followed by Imad Wasim at 102-7
Pakistan’s innings ended at 113-7, as Arshdeep managed to hold his nerve to concede eleven. This left Pakistan with back-to-back defeats in their first two games.
Reaction:
“We didn’t bat well enough. I thought halfway through, after 10 overs, we were in a good position, you expect guys to stitch partnerships. We were 15-20 runs short, and every run matters. We were looking at 140, but nevertheless the bowlers did the job. It was a good wicket compared to the one we played on here [against Ireland]. There’s that never-say-die attitude in the team. Only 119 on the board, and we wanted to make early inroads which we didn’t. But at the halfway stage we got together and said if things can happen to us, they can happen to them too. The little contributions from everyone makes the difference. Whoever has the ball wants to make the difference. Bumrah is going from strength to strength. I’m not going to talk too much about him, we want him to be in that kind of mindset till the end of this World Cup, he’s a genius with the ball. The crowd was superb, they never disappoint, wherever we play in the world, they come out in huge numbers and support us. They’ll be going home with a big smile on their face as well. Just the start of the tournament, we have a long way to go.”
Sharma: Cricinfo
“I think they bowled well after 10 overs. We were chasing 120, we were run a ball for the first 10 overs, but back to back wickets and then [we left too much in the end]. Tactics was simple, play normally, rotate strike, 5-6 an over. But in that period we had too many dot balls, the pressure was on us, and we lost three quick wickets. Can’t expect too much from tailenders. We were not up to the mark in the first six overs, we had targeted 40-45 runs, we have not capitalised properly. Pitch looked decent, ball coming nicely. Little bit slow, some balls are bouncing a bit more, but you expect it with a drop-in pitch.”
Azam: Cricinfo
“It feels really good,” “We felt we were a little under par, and when the sun came out, the wicket got a little better, so we had to be really disciplined. I tried to keep it simple, tried to hit the seam as much as I can, focus on my execution. It felt like we were in India, and the cheering is really appreciated, we were really happy with the support we got, it gave us a lot of energy. Focus on the now. We’ve played two games, played very good cricket. We’ll stick to our processes, and come out and try our best.”
Bumrah: Cricinfo