Dubai: India huffed and puffed their way past Pakistan in the Dubai blockbuster on Sunday, winning their Asia Cup clash by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare.
India thus avenged their 10-wicket humiliation at the hands of their arch-rivals in the T20 World Cup at the same venue 10 months ago.
Chasing 148 on a tricky pitch, India struggled after Virat Kohli fell for 35. But Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja’s mature 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket helped them cross the line.
Pandya followed up his 3-wicket haul with an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls, including the winning six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. Jadeja contributed a crucial 34.
Pakistan were beaten, but not disgraced. T20I debutant Naseem Shah bowled his heart out, despite developing cramps and struggling to find his footing as Pakistan came agonizingly close to pulling off another win in the UAE.
The Indian medium-pacers were absolutely brilliant after Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Pakistan to bat first. They relished the bounce on the Dubai International Cricket Stadium pitch and took wickets at regular intervals after the dangerous Babar Azam fell cheaply to a short ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third over.
India didn’t miss Jasprit Bumrah as their medium-pacers captured all 10 wickets for the first time in a T20 International. Bhuvneshwar bagged 4/26, Hardik Pandya 3/25, Arshdeep Singh 2/33 and Avesh Khan 1/19.
Brief scores: Pakistan 147 in 19.5 overs (M Rizwan 43; B Kumar 4/26, H Pandya 3/25). India 148/5 in 19.4 overs (V Kohli 35, R Jadeja 34, H Pandya 33*; Md Nawaz 3/33, Naseem Shah 2/27).
Result: India won by 5 wkts.
