Asia Cup 2022, Super 4, Ind vs Pak: Lack of 6th bowler hurts India; Pakistan win by 5 wickets
Asia Cup 2022, Super 4, India vs Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan's 71 off 51, Mohammad Nawaz's 42 & 1-25 and Virat Kohli's 60 off 44 are top three performances. Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets in Super 4.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 182/5 (Mohammad Rizwan 71, Mohammad Nawaz 42, Ravi Bishnoi 1/26) beat India 181/7 (Virat Kohli 60, Rohit Sharma 28, Shadab Khan 2/31) by 5 wickets
Player of the Match: Mohammad Nawaz for his 42 from 20, 1/25 & 3 catches
Head-to-Head: India and Pakistan have faced each other 10 times in T20Is and India leads the way with 8 wins (including a win in a bowl-out)
Previous Meeting: The two sides met a week back at the same venue and India emerged victorious by 5 wickets in a thrilling last over finish.
Arguably the biggest rivalry in the sport of cricket - India vs Pakistan – took place for the second Sunday in a row at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. This time it was a Super 4 clash between the two arch-rivals.
Lack of 6th bowler hurt India big time as Pakistan notch up first win in Super 4
India’s bowlers had a poor outing in the middle as they lacked the discipline, especially towards the end of the defence. They bowled as many as 5 wides in the last 3 overs which not only means 5 extra balls and runs, it also meant India were behind the over-rate and subsequently were allowed only 4 boundary riders for the final over.
Another thing to note is India didn’t utilize their 6th bowler, Deepak Hooda and this seriously dented India’s chances in the game. Three of the bowlers had a bad day at office going for more than 10 runs per over each. One could get a feeling that they really missed that one extra bowler.
Pakistan emerge victorious in high-scoring thriller
Both the sides had contrasting wins against the associate team Hong Kong in their respective previous encounters. India did manage to win against Hong Kong, but it was far from convincing especially at the end overs with the ball. On the other hand, Pakistan steamrolled Hong Kong with the ball as they skittled them out for 38, winning by 155 runs.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field first like India did in the previous outing. With Ravindra Jadeja injured, India were forced to make that change and Deepak Hooda came in his place. Also, Hardik Pandya returned to the side after being rested against Hong Kong and Ravi Bishnoi came in for Avesh Khan. Mohammad Hasnain featured in the playing XI for Pakistan, replacing an injured Shahnawaz Dahani.
India’s openers took advantage of the powerplay overs scoring 62/1 with both Rohit Sharma (28 off 16) and KL Rahul (28 off 20) scoring at a brisk pace. They attacked the fast bowlers initially before getting out in quick succession.
Spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan accounted for last match hero Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant for low scores. This didn’t hamper India’s scoring rate as the foundation was set in the first 6 overs and Virat Kohli went on with his usual style of play in the middle-overs. Despite losing wickets, India reached a competitive total of 181/7.