Pakistan made it 1-1 vs India in the ongoing Asia Cup after they defeated the men in blue by five wickets on Sunday, September 4. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Batting first, it was the Rahul-Rohit show in Dubai. The Indian team raced away to 62 after the first six overs.
However, both Rahul and Rohit couldn't continue long enough and fell in quick succession after scoring 28(20) and 28(16) respectively. Virat Kohli, as usual, took his time to get in. Suryakumar Yadav came in and was pretty proactive against the spinners.
Virat top-scored for India with 60 runs.
His aggression, however, led to his downfall and he fell cheaply for just 13 runs. Pant, who was replaced Karthik in the playing 11 came in at number five. but couldn't get going and got out to a nothing shot. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, held one end up, scored a lot of singles and doubles, attacked when necessary, and made a magnificent 60 before getting run-out in the last over.
Powered by the former captain's 60, India finished with 181. Chasing 182, Ravi Bishnoi dismisssed Babar Azam cheaply and Pakistan scored 44 runs in the Powerplay. It was a Good Powerplay for both teams. Pakistan made above 40 runs and did not lose any more wickets. India, on the other hand, was happy that Babar Azam was back in the hut.
Rizwan, like Virat Kohli, carried on from one end and hit a fifty in 37 balls. Nawaz too struck some lusty blows and added the much-needed impetus in the innings. Pakistan needed 26 off the last 12 deliveries. but Bhuvneshwar's expensive over-turned the game on its head and Pakistan just required 7 off the last 6 balls. The match got a bit interesting when Pakistan needed 2 off 2, but Singh's full toss spelt the end for India as Pakistan took two to close off the chase and win the match by 5 wickets.
India's bowling lacked any venom. Hardik was expensive and it just did not come together for the men in blue today. India will next face Sri Lanka.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
