After winning the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma decided to bowl. Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, claimed he would have followed suit. India was on the verge of triumph after five short balls resulted in five wickets. A reality check for India came when Naseem Shah got KL Rahul to draw a length ball on to his stumps, Virat Kohli survived a difficult situation at third slip, and Rohit Sharma nearly edged a stunning delivery to the wicketkeeper.
The goal was 148, but India had no intention of winning easily. However, Hardik Pandya maintained composure and hit three boundaries in the 19th over before lifting Mohammad Nawaz over his head for a flat six to end the match with two balls remaining.
But that wasn’t a canter. Up until the 15th over, India’s emotions were all over the place. Sharma slammed Mohammad Nawaz for a six over midwicket but misfired when attempting a straighter shot, Kohli flattering with a top-edged six over his head but checking his lifted shot to almost laser-guide it to long-off, and so on until it finally fell on the less skilled but more knowledgeable middle-order to work their way out of the mess. India had again pulled a surprise by selecting Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant.
Ravindra Jadeja had to be sent in at the fall of the third wicket merely to stop the slide and misdirect the Pakistani spinners with a left-right combination because Karthik is the designated slog-overs specialist.
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Yes, Pakistan’s pace did slow down, but so did India’s. In 10 overs, India struggled to 62/3, and at the conclusion of the 13th, they had 65 off 42. Getable, but given that this is India-Pakistan, magnify the win % by the crippling uncertainty that a game of this stature may introduce into the mind.
Before Shahnawaz Dahani and Shah took control, Shadab Khan had rolled off four overs for 19 to put India under pressure. Dahani further restrained India’s innings by allowing just six runs before Shah came back to break Suryakumar Yadav’s off stump. At 89/4, India was truly struggling to breathe in the face of Pakistan’s methodical bowling.
After dismissing Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah earlier, Hardik Pandya entered. Pandya made it clear he wasn’t going to back up with a vicious slap behind point for four. With India requiring 32 from 18 balls, Shah bowled a lazy bouncer that was too high and too short before Jadeja blasted him through the covers for a boundary. However, inexperience eventually shows.
Jadeja lowered the ask to 21 off 13 with a sixth over Shah’s head on the fifth ball. Although Pakistan was still in the game, Pandya ended their chances by milking Haris Rauf for 14 runs in the penultimate over before declaring victory in the subsequent over.
However, India’s bowling was the best part. Yuzvendra Chahal and Jadeja’s six overs of spin produced 43 runs and limited Pakistan’s scoring, but bouncers—who for the first time in India’s T20I history, took all 10 wickets—caused the real damage. The short ball, of course, was crucial.
Bhuveneshwar Kumar, who finished with a return of 4/26, remarked after the first innings, “When we looked at the wicket, we assumed it would swing but there was no swing.” Although there was bounce, we are aware of the balls we need to bowl.
When you bowl short, few were skidding and some were coming slow. To be honest, we gave 10-15 runs extra [to Pakistan]. New ball is always tricky on this wicket. There could be bounce for their bowlers too, but I’m backing our batters to chase this down.”
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Until Kumar put him up with a bouncer that obviously got large on the Pakistani skipper, Azam was forced to weave in and out of seaming deliveries. Arshdeep Singh, who was positioned at short fine-leg, caught it perfectly as he top-edged it. Fakhar Zaman walked in the sixth over to give Pakistan a 42/2 lead because there was such a buzz throughout the stadium that the umpire failed to pick up a small edge off his bat.
The sole worthwhile partnership thereafter added 45 runs between Ahmed and Rizwan, but Pakistan was never able to capitalise on it. Pakistan was unable to cross the boundary, thanks to India’s accurate bowling, which included a variety of lengths and speeds. Pakistan was on the verge of collapse after Pandya took Rizwan and Ahmed, but Dahani’s two sixes helped them reach 147.
