Pakistan defeated India by five wickets in the Super 4 match of the Asia Cup on Sunday. Pakistan chased 182 for a win and overhauled the goal with one ball left. Mohammad Rizwan scored the highest score with 71 out of 51 balls, while Mohammad Nawaz came in with 42 while Pakistan reached 182 for 5 in 19.5 overs.
For India, all bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal - each took one wicket. Invited to bat, India put 181 for 7. Virat Kohli scored the best for India with 60 balls from 44, while KL Rahul and captain Rohit Sharma contributed 28 each. For Pakistan, Shadab Khan took two wickets for 31 runs, while Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Nawaz each took one wicket.
Mohammad Nawaz stunned India with the bat after helping cut down the frantic start with the ball to give Pakistan a thrilling win. After a week of successfully chasing India in a thrilling final, Pakistan returned the favor, challenging India to bat and heading home with just one ball.
India, aware of the historic advantage of the pursuers in Dubai, struck extremely aggressively in the first half but continued to drop wickets which meant that Virat Kohli, who made 60 significant advances towards his best with a 44-ball, something had to play it safe in the second half. Despite the good start, Pakistan has only suffered 88 in the last 10.
Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase with 71 of 51, but it was Nawaz who provided the much needed push. Promoted to number 4, he scored 42 out of 20 balls to get Pakistan back on track.
Pakistan got off to a shaky start after Babar Azam (14) was sacked by Ravi Bishnoi in fourth over. Fakhar Zaman also failed to make his mark when he was sent off with a score of 15 by Yuzvendra Chahal. Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz then created a crucial partnership, adding 84 points for the third wicket. Both Rizwan and Nawaz (41) were sacked in quick succession by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya respectively. While Pakistan needed 26 in the last two overs, Bhuvneshwar drip 19 runs in the penultimate over as the game slipped from India's grasp.
Previously, Virat Kohli took the bat when India racked up a total of 181 for seven in 20 overs against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup Super-4 clash. Pakistan got off to a great start in the chase, with Rizwan hitting the first ball in front of a boundary and also Babar Azam finding the boundary in the first over. Kohli topped the run by 50 and hit a six over deep midwicket. Eventually he became exhausted after a direct hit from the deep of Asif Ali. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had already got off to a great start, accumulating 54 points in the first five overs. However, India lost a number of wickets, slowing their momentum in the middle overs. Ravi Bishnoi ran into two major limits, but got a hand from Fakhar Zaman, as India ended his inning on a positive note. Previously, Pakistan had won the toss and opted for bowling.
Pakistan managed to make an extraordinary chase to return to India in the second of three possible matches between the two traditional rivals in the 2022 Asia Cup.
Asif Ali nearly took Pakistan home after Arshdeep Singh dropped a dolly off him. However, Arshdeep sent him away with only two balls left and with Pakistan he still needs two runs to win. Pakistan then ran hard and took two runs on the next ball to win the game with five wickets.
Did your heart beat faster while watching the live match? What a wonderful and intense match indeed. Let us congratulate Pakistan for the job well done!
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