MELBOURNE: Indian Captain Virat Kohli played a brilliant knock to get India over the line against archrival Pakistan in the opening match of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
In their chase of 160, India suffered early blows as they lost four wickets. But when Kohli and Pandya stepped in, they helped the team bounce back and piled pressure on the bowlers.
Before Pandya’s (40) dismissal, he and Kohli (82) shared a partnership of 113 runs off 78 balls.
Hardik Pandya and Kohli assisted his team in coming back from 31 for four to somehow win the game.
India needed 16 runs in the final over, when Mohammad Nawaz bowled Pandya. In the beginning, it seemed like Pakistan were on top, but Nawaz’s no-ball and six from Kohli set the stage for India — and although Dinesh Karthik was sent back to the pavilion, it did not affect the Men in Blue’s determination to win.
At the end of 20 overs, India stood at 160 for the loss of eight wickets. Kohli was awarded the Man of The Match award.
Earlier, Pakistan posted a decent recovery after an almost nightmare start that saw both their star openers perish early. Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood’s half-centuries helped the Green Shirts post 159-8 runs.
After inviting Pakistan to bat first, Indian seamers found plenty of bounce and movement, just as they had in their first encounter during the recent Asia Cup.
Babar Azam was out on golden duck and Mohammad Rizwan followed him back in the dugout soon after. Shan Masood played the anchor and hung around till the end but the real star was the much-criticised Iftikhar Ahmed, whose 34-ball 51 at one point threatened to unclench India’s grip on the innings.
However, once he fell, the leakage of wickets resumed, with no one sticking with Masood for long enough. The one-down lefty finished with 52 runs off 42 balls. A 16-run cameo at the very end by Shaheen Afridi was invaluable in boosting the score.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh.
