Asia Cup 2018: Super Four, Match 3, India vs Pakistan – Trend Analysis

India and Pakistan will be facing off for the second time in a five-day span with the Men in Blue getting better off their arch-rivals by a record margin to end the Group Stage on a high. India made it a hat-trick of victories in this Asia Cup by with another big win over Bangladesh that pumped their NRR. Pakistan sneaked in a thriller against Afghanistan and will be hoping to settle the score with India and book a spot in the final.

Both the teams might be interested in bowling first in this fixture given Dubai’s conditions while chasing. India and Pakistan, who have superior bowling attacks, could be seen restricting their opponents to a low total rather than putting themselves in an unsure position of what total will be ideal to defend under the lights.

India:

India has won 15 of their last 17 ODI matches when they were chasing. The two times they lost while batting second in the last 14 months was gunning down the totals in excess of 300. Whenever India took the field with a bowling line-up compressing Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Kuldeep and Chahal, they have not conceded a 300+ total.

This could well continue against Pakistan if Rohit elects to bowl first once again. India might shelve the option of setting the total given their middle-order which could crumble be it while batting first or chasing. However, a lower target to chase might not do any damage with the experienced opening pair making enough runs before being dismissed.

Pakistan:

Pakistan were shaken by the loss against India which was evident from their skipper’s post-match comments. However, they were successful in breaking the hoodoo for chasing sides at the Abu Dhabi against Afghanistan and could find things easier in Dubai if they decided to chase this time around. They have bundled out their opponents on nine of the previous 12 instances while bowling first and also won their previous five games in UAE when they were chasing a total.

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