In the 16th match, Super 12 Group 2, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets at the Dubai International Stadium. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Rizwan Ahmed’s performance guided Pakistan to ink history on one of the biggest stages of the game.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to field in a high octane fixture. The left-arm seamer, Shaheen Afridi ran through the Indian opening pair as he sent Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul back to the pavilion in his two consecutive overs. The Pakistani bowlers took wickets at regular intervals and managed to restrict the Indians to a below-par total of 151. The opening batsmen of Pakistan Babar Azam (68*) and Rizwan Ahmed (79*) were looking positive with their approach, the latter smashed 10 runs off the first over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Apart from a couple of tight spin overs, Pakistani openers looked comfortable in the powerplay. The opening pair increased the run rate with every passing over and took control of the run chase. The Indian bowlers were looking clueless against the two in-form batsmen. Babar and Rizwan got to their respective half-centuries in the 12th and 14th over respectively. The openers treated the freebies by the Indian bowlers over the boundary ropes and started inching closer towards the target with every passing over. The winning runs came from Rizwan’s bat in the 18th over. Pakistan registered their first victory against India in the ICC World Cups after losing 12 consecutive games.
Virat Kohli (57) and Rishabh Pant (39) were the top scorers for India. After the top order debacle, the two had a brief partnership, which stirred India’s ship in the first innings.
Afridi was the pick among the bowlers for his 3 for 31. Hasan Ali pocketed two while Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan gathered one wicket each. The Indians went wicketless with the ball in the second innings.
Pakistan kick-started their World Cup campaign with two crucial points. Afridi was adjudged Man of the match for his impressive bowling figures of 3/31.
Scorecard:
India: 151/7, Overs 20, Virat Kohli (57), Rishabh Pant (39), Shaheen Afridi (3/31)
Pakistan: 152/0, Overs 17.5, Rizwan Ahmed (79*), Babar Azam (68*), Jasprit Bumrah (0/21)