The much anticipated match between India and Pakistan turned out to be a one-sided affair with India dominating the Pakistan cricket team with their bowling. No batsman from the Pakistan team except Shoaib Malik and Babar Azam appeared comfortable facing the Indian bowling. With Shoaib Malik getting run out courtesy Ambati Rayudu’s quick hands and Kuldeep Yadav taking the wicket of the experienced Shoaib Malik the contest became one sided. Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided India with the much-needed early breakthroughs but the pair of Shoaib Malik and Babar Azam stayed on the crease creating a mirage of an exciting India Pakistan clash but it wasn’t to last for long. Pakistan even after winning the toss failed to assess the condition of the pitch which resulted in a complete whitewash of their side .
For all the tall claims made by the Pakistani team and their supporters prior to the match none of their batsmen were able to cross the half century mark. 7 out of the total 11 batsmen even failed to touch the double digits and bowed down completely in front of the Indian bowling attack. Indian seamers and spinners both chipped in to take timely wickets in the match restricting Pakistan to a paltry 162 for the loss of 10 wickets in 23.1 overs. Both Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets each while Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets.
The Indian batting side which has always been India’s dominant side started off on the right note with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan giving a solid start to the Indian side. Rohit Sharma scored a quickfire 52 off 39 balls while Shikhar Dhawan scored 46 off 54 to comfortably see through the all important first 10 overs. Captain Rohit Sharma’s wicket was the first to fall in the 14th over when India was comfortably placed at 86. Rohit was clean bowled by Shadab Khan when he was trying to score quickly and achieve the target of 163 under 25 overs. Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket fell in the 17th over when he was caught out on the bowling of Faheem Ashraf. However, the loss of these two wickets did not mean anything and India won by 8 wickets (with 126 balls remaining).
This match win will wash away all the bad memories which the Indian fans have carried since the fateful day of the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy where Pakistan defeated India. This Asia Cup defeat at the hands of the Indian side which did not have its main player Virat Kohli will continue to haunt the Pakistan team for many years to come. India has a lot to rejoice from this win, not only will this win give them the edge over other teams in the upcoming matches but the performance of Indian bowlers in this match will give them much needed respite after the tricky win against Hong Kong in the first match.
