A dominant show with the bat ensures Pakistan get off the mark in Super 4 | Asia Cup 2022 - IND vs PAK

DUBAI: The second match in the Super 4's was played between India and Pakistan at Dubai. A glorious batting display from Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz and Asif Ali took Pakistan to a stunning victory by 5 wickets. India made 3 changes bringing in Hardik Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda in place of Avesh Khan, Injured Ravindra Jadeja and Dinesh Karthik. Pakistan made one change bringing in Mohammad Hasnain for Dahani.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl in the mouth-watering clash. India got off to an aggressive start scoring 54/0 in the first 5 overs before losing Skipper Rohit Sharma for a well made 28. India lost KL Rahul in the next over for a supporting knock of 28. Virat Kohli and SuryaKumar Yadav tried to steady the innings with never the run rate drop. SuryaKumar Yadav tried to accelerate but lost his wicket to Mohammad Nawaz. India played very few dot balls and that was an important feature of the inning. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya lost their wickets in consecutive overs. Virat Kohli was the pick of the batters as he played an anchoring knock of 60 off 44 deliveries and was the spotlight of the Indian innings. With wickets falling at the other end, he stood through the innings and was instrumental in India posting a huge total. India got to a total of 181/7 with a blitz from Virat Kohli and 2 ball 8 from Ravi Bishnoi. Pakistan’s fielding was a mixed bag as they took good catches but made some misfields. Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowlers picking 2 wickets. The other bowlers picked up a wicket each. 

Chasing 182, Pakistan got off to a slow start losing skipper Babar Azam in the 4th over and found themselves at 22/1. Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman built a solid partnership of 41 runs. Trying to keep up with the run rate, Fakhar Zaman lost his wicket in the 9th over to Yuzvendra Chahal. Mohammad Nawaz was sent in at No.4 as a pinch hitter. He and Mohammad Rizwan together got an important partnership of 73 off 41 deliveries. They showed great intent scoring boundaries and displayed great running between wickets. Nawaz played his role rightly scoring 42 off 20 deliveries and kept the momentum going for Pakistan. They targeted overs 12-15 to increase their scoring rate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the crucial wicket of Mohammad Nawaz. Hardik Pandya came back in the 17th over to get rid off the settled Mohammad Rizwan. He played a match- winning knock of 71 off 51 deliveries, keeping Pakistan in the game. Asif Ali was dropped on 0 by Arshdeep Singh which in the end proved costly as he went to get 16 off 8 deliveries which proved crucial in the chase. With 26 needed off 2 overs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was hit for 19 runs in the penultimate over, which was the turning point of the game. The Indian bowlers bowled well through the middle overs. But were exposed in the death overs. All the bowlers got a wicket each to their name. India bowled 10 wides which proved crucial in the end. Great knocks from Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz and a cameo from Asif Ali helped Pakistan by 5 wickets and a ball to spare and got their first win of the Super 4.