Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets in a nail-biting final over to begin their journey to Asia Cup 2022 final on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
Chasing a huge total of 182 in 20 overs, Mohammad Rizwan smashed a 51-ball 71 to hand Pakistan a five-wicket victory over India in the Super 4 clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Pakistan was off to a shaky start after they lost their skipper Babar Azam (14) in the fourth over by Ravi Bishnoi. Fakhar Zaman also failed to put him impact on a big match game as he was dismissed on 15 by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz then stitched a crucial 84 runs partnership for the third wicket. Both Rizwan and Nawaz (41) were dismissed in quick intervals by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya, respectively.
With Pakistan requiring 26 off the last two overs, Bhuvneshwar leaked 19 runs in the penultimate over after the match slipped away from India’s range.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Virat Kohli starred with the bat as India posted a total of 181/7 in 20 overs.
Pakistan started the chase quite well with Rizwan hitting the first-ball boundary in the first over and Babar also opened his hands in the first over.
Meanwhile, Kohli had a brilliant day with the bat as he scored 60 off just 44 balls, hitting four boundaries and a maximum. He reached his half-century mark with a six over deep midwicket.
He eventually got run out after Asif Ali threw him a direct hit from the deep.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul gave a steady start earlier as they smashed Pakistan everywhere with 54 runs in just 5 overs. However, they keep losing wickets in the middle overs to slow down their momentum.
Ravi Bishnoi struck two boundaries in the final over to end their innings with a massive total.
Babar Azam (Pak), Winning Captain:
We try to keep things simple. Up and down is there but the effort the boys showed, credit goes to the team. The way the bowlers came back and then our partnerships were outstanding. Nawaz’s batting was outstanding. We try to do what the situation needs. The spinners were very good and the fast bowlers finished well.
Rohit Sharma (Ind), Losing Captain:
It’s a high-pressure game and we know we can’t let anything slip away so a game like that takes a lot. But we were quite calm even during that Rizwan and Nawaz partnership but they batted brilliantly. Games like this can bring out the best if they can deliver… (Kohli) His form is brilliant, there’s no doubt. He batted sensibly in the middle. We needed somebody to stay and keep the tempo. Virat getting that score, staying till the end, was crucial for us. (Approach) While taking that approach you will not always have success but we’re okay with that, we learnt a lot today.
Mohammad Nawaz, Player of the match:
That’s always in our minds, keep things simple. For a left-arm spinner, it’s important to stick to the basic line and length. I try that one-two balls turn so that plays on the batsmen’s minds. After that, I try and stick to line and length. We needed 10 runs per over when I walked in to bat so I knew I had to attack every chance I got. Whatever area the ball comes, I just had to hit. I didn’t try and overplay but kept things simple.
Pakistan 182 for 5 (Rizwan 71, Nawaz 42) beat India 181 for 7 (Kohli 60, Rahul 28, Rohit 28, Shadab 2-31) by five wickets.