Birmingham, Jun 15: Title favourites India produced yet another clinical performance as they outplayed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in a high-voltage group league encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy here today.
In a match where there were numerous rain-interruptions, Pakistan were bundle out for 165 in 39.4 overs due to a disciplined effort by the Indian bowling unit led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returned with figures of two for 19.
India's final revised target courtesy D/L method was 102 in 22 overs which the ‘Men In Blue' achieved with 17 balls to spare as Shikhar Dhawan again blazed his way to a 41-ball-48. India thus finished group league engagements with an all-win record.
Winning the ‘prestige battle' against Pakistan will certainly be a big morale-booster for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men as they await their semi-final opponents whom they will take on in the second semi-final in Cardiff on June 20.
The win was also India's first in the Champions Trophy having lost against the same opponents in the 2004 and 2009 editions of the tournament.
With game frequently delayed by intermittent rain, India never lost sight of the target as the openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (18) again gave a solid start adding 58 runs for the opening stand. While Rohit was a bit subdued, there was no stopping Dhawan who repeatedly peppered the off-side field.
In all he hit five boundaries and just when a half-century was there for the taking, the Delhi lad slashed hard at one from Wahab Riaz to be caught at the deep third-man boundary. Virat Kohli (22 no) and Dinesh Karthik (11 no) ensured that there were no hiccups in the chase.
Earlier, India's bowling quartet of Bhuvneshwar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma shared the bulk of the spoils as they never really let Pakistan batsmen off the hook.
Ind Innings
Over 19.1: India beat Pakistan by 8 wickets. Ind 102/2
Over 19: Kohli hits a FOUR of Wahab Riaz's last ball. Ind 101/2
Need 6 more to win from 24 balls
Over 18: Karthik hits a FOUR of Saeed Ajmal's 3rd ball. Ind 96/2
Over 17: 3 runs of Wahab Riaz's over. Ind 90/2
India need another 15 runs from 36 balls
Over 16: Kohli hits a FOUR of Saeed Ajmal's 5th ball. Ind 87/2
Over 15: Dhawan OUT after hitting two FOURs of Wahab Riaz's Over. Ind 78/2
Over 14: 2 runs of Saeed Ajmal's over. Ind 69/1
Over 13: 3 runs of Wahab Riaz's over. Ind 67/1
Over 12: 2 runs of Mohammad Hafeez's over. Ind 64/1
Play resumes. Target 102 in 22 overs
Rain again stops play
Over 11: Rohit Sharma OUT caught Misbah of Saeed Ajmal. Ind 62/1
Play resumes
Rain stops play after 8th Over
Over 7: Dhawan hits a FOUR of Mohammad Irfan's 2nd ball. Ind 37/0
Over 6: Dhawan hits a FOUR of Junaid Khan's 4th ball. Ind 28/0
Over 5: Rohit hits consecutive FOURs in Mohammad Irfan's over. Ind 22/0
Over 4: Dhawan hits a FOUR of Junaid Khan's 2nd ball. Ind 13/0
Over 3: 2 runs scored of Mohammad Irfan's over. Ind 7/0
Over 2: Just 1 run came from Junaid Khan's over. Ind 5/0
Over 1: 4 runs scored from Mohammad Irfan's over. Ind 4/0
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan open the innings for India.
