Asia Cup 2018: Match 5, India vs Pakistan, Review- After the Hong Kong hiccup, India make an authoritative comeback

The two teams will now meet on September 23 in the Super 4's of the multi-nation tournament.

Published - 19 Sept 2018, 23:33 IST | Updated - 19 Sept 2018, 23:33 IST

3 Min Read

The match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium had no significance as far as the ongoing Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was concerned. However, bearing in mind their age-old rivalry, it was the most awaited clash this far in the multi-nation tournament. In the end, India dictated terms and trumped their arch-rivals by eight wickets.

Bowlers strangle Pakistan

Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first, but, Pakistan’s start wasn’t auspicious by any stretch of the imaginations. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman have been in tremendous form of late, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah hit the right channels to curb them. Imam tried to break the shackles by dancing down the track but gave his wicket to Bhuvneshwar.

A couple of overs later, Fakhar perished for a nine-ball duck and Pakistan found themselves in dire straits. However, Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik put their heads down to build 82 runs from 103 balls. Just they threatened to take the match away from the Men in Blue, Kuldeep Yadav produced a peach that snuck through Babar’s bat and pad to clatter into the timber.

Kedar Jadhav was introduced into the attack soon after and he turned out to be India’s man with the golden arm. He removed skipper Sarfraz Ahmed to start the carnage. He was assisted by Manish Pandey, who took a stunner at long-on. Pakistan were jolted with a body blow when Shoaib Malik found himself short of the crease courtesy of a direct hit from Ambati Rayudu.

Asif Ali deposited Kuldeep Yadav to show his intent but became Jadhav’s second victim. The part-timer went from strength to strength with the wicket of Shadab Khan. Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir added 37 runs for the eighth wicket, but Bumrah got rid of him to break the stand. In the end, Pakistan huffed and puffed to 162 runs and were shot out out 41 balls short of the 50 overs.

Rohit takes the sting out of Pakistan bowlers

The Indian openers- Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan- don’t have an overwhelming record against left-arm fast bowlers and they buckled down to start with against the likes of Mohammad Amir and Usman Khan. Nevertheless, as the innings progressed, the batters, especially Rohit stepped on the accelerator and put India in a commanding position.

He scored a quick-fire 52 runs from 39 runs with the help of six boundaries and three sixes. The Pakistani bowlers tried to pepper him with short deliveries, but Rohit was equal to the task and gracefully kept playing the pull shot. It only required the introduction of Shadab Khan to get rid of him. Shadab dished out a wrong’un and the batsman failed to read the delivery.

Subsequently, the ball clattered into the stumps. Dhawan also looked settled and eventually fell prey to Faheem when he tried to cut the ball through point. When the left-hander perished, India still required 59 runs. Nonetheless, they had over 200 balls to accomplish the same. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu had the onus to ensure the Men in Blue don’t suffer any further hiccup.

The duo picked up singles and smacked the odd boundary at regular intervals to keep the scoreboard ticking. The heads steadfastly kept going down for the Pakistanis and India achieved the target with 126 balls to spare. Karthik and Rayudu remained not out on 31 each respectively. The two teams will now meet on September 23 in the Super 4’s of the multi-nation tournament.