Dubai: Hardik Pandya’s all-around performance under pressure conditions helped India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in their first match of the Asia Cup on Sunday. Hardik proved his worth in the first bowling, taking three wickets for 25 runs in four overs, on the basis of which India reduced Pakistan to 147 runs in 19.5 overs. Chasing the target, he scored an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls and shared a 52-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29 balls) to help India win.
In the 19th overs bowled by Haris Rauf, Pandya’s three fours turned the game upside down. India needed six runs in the last three balls and Hardik smashed left-arm spinner, Mohammad Nawaz, for a six with two balls to spare. Earlier, India’s top-order batsmen were disappointed.
KL Rahul could not even open the account while captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed after scoring 12 runs in 18 balls. Virat Kohli scored 35 runs in 34 balls but while moving towards the big innings, he was dismissed after playing an irresponsible shot. Naseem Shah, making his debut for Pakistan, troubled the Indian batsmen a lot.
At one point India’s score was reduced to 89 for four, after which Jadeja and Pandya took charge. Earlier, on the basis of the brilliant bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pandya, India dismissed Pakistan for 147 runs. Indian captain Rohit won the toss and elected to bowl, which was proved right by the bowlers led by Bhuvneshwar and Hardik. Bhuvneshwar took four wickets for 26 runs in four overs which included the prized wicket of Pakistani captain Babar Azam (10).
At the same time, Hardik took three wickets for 25 runs in four overs and broke the back of the Pakistani middle order. Young fast bowler Arshdeep Singh took two wickets for 33 runs. India. This was Arshdeep’s first experience of playing in a Pakistan match. All ten wickets for India were taken by the fast bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first over was sensational with two DRS decisions in favor of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan. In the same over, Babar hit a four on a straight drive.
The umpire had given Rizwan out leg before the second ball but the DRS decision was in the batsman’s favor. Rizwan scored 43 runs in 42 balls. Four balls later, Rizwan took the catch behind the wicket but after seeing the ‘ultra edge’, the decision went in his favor. Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep took full advantage of the help from the pitch in the opening spell.
In the second over, Bhuvneshwar caught Babar with a bouncer and in an attempt to play a pool shot, he was caught at short fine leg by Arshdeep. India brought in Avesh Khan as the third fast bowler and he gave India success in the very first over. Rizwan hit him for a six and a four but on the fifth ball, Avesh got Fakhar Zaman caught behind the wicket by Dinesh Karthik, who has been replaced by Rishabh Pant in this big match on the basis of experience.
In the noise of the spectators, the Indians did not hear the sound of the ball hitting the bat but Fakhar himself left the field. At this time Pakistan’s score was 43 for two in six overs. Rizwan added 45 runs for the third wicket with Iftar Ahmed (28 off 22 balls). Hardik stopped Pakistan from moving towards a big score by dismissing both batsmen.
After this, he also took the wicket of Khushdil Shah in another short ball. For Pakistan, number 11 batsman Shahnawaz Dahani hit two sixes against Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep in the last two overs to take the team to 150. India took five wickets in the last five overs but conceded 45 runs.
