India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2022 Match 16 Stats Review: Virat Kohli’s feat, India’s stellar record against Pakistan in World Cups, and other stats

Virat Kohli wrote another glorious chapter in his staggering career as he smashed an unbeaten 82 off just 53 with six fours and four maximums to help India in defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by four wickets in a thriller of a match in Melbourne. Hardik Pandya also starred with his all-round performance of 3/30 and 40 off 37 as the Men in Blue began their T20 World Cup campaign with a memorable victory in Match 16 of the T20 World Cup 2022.

Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. Pacer Arshdeep Singh drew first blood for India as he dismissed Pakistani captain Babar Azam for a golden duck. The 23-year-old seam bowler also got rid of Mohammad Rizwan who struggled for his innings of four off 12.

Shan Masood and the aggressive Iftikhar Ahmed struck valuable half-centuries with the latter slamming 51 off 34 with two fours and four maximums. Masood remained unbeaten on 52 while Shaheen Afridi played a cameo of 16 off just eight as both took their side to a total of 159/8 in 20 overs. Arshdeep ended his spell with figures of 3/32 in four overs.

In reply, India got off to a disastrous start as both openers KL Rahul and Rohit managed to amass four each. Suryakumar Yadav made 15 off 10 while Axar Patel got run out on just two. Then began the Kohli-Hardik show as the duo put on a solid 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The former reached his fifty and with 31 needing off the final two overs, he hammered two sixes off Haris Rauf in the 19^th over to turn the tide in India’s favor.

With 16 needed off the last over, Hardik got dismissed on the first delivery to Mohammad Nawaz. But the Pakistani spinner could not hold his nerve as he conceded a six, no-ball, and a wide to hand India a remarkable and stunning win on the final ball of the match. For his magnificent match-winning knock, Kohli grabbed the Player of the Match award, the most by any player (14) in the format, surpassing Mohammad Nabi’s tally of 13.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match 16 in the Super 12 round in Group 2 between India and Pakistan in T20 WC 2022:

3794 - Virat Kohli is now the leading run-getter with 3794 runs in T20 internationals. He surpassed Rohit Sharma’s tally of 3741 runs.

14 – Kohli has now won the most POTM awards (14) in T20Is. He went past Mohammad Nabi’s tally of 13 such awards.

13 – India have won 13 out of the 14 encounters against Pakistan in World Cups (ODI & T20).

4 – For the fourth time, India registered a victory off the final ball of a T20I. The previous three instances came against Australia in 2016 and against Bangladesh and West Indies, both in 2018.

82* - Kohli also recorded the highest individual score of 82* for India against Pakistan in a T20 international. He also occupies the second spot for his knock of 78* in Colombo in the year 2012.

35 – KL Rahul has managed to score only 35 runs in four innings at an average of just 8.75 against Pakistan.

3 – For the third time since 2021, both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan got dismissed in single digits in the same match. The previous two instances came against England in Lahore and Karachi this year.

113 – Kohli and Hardik Pandya recorded the highest fifth-wicket partnership of 113 for India against Pakistan. Previously, Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja managed to score 52 in Dubai this year.

5 – Babar is now tied with Mashrafe Mortaza and William Porterfield in the second position for scoring the most ducks (5) as a captain in the T20I format. Australia’s Aaron Finch tops the chart with eight ducks.

14.25 – Rohit Sharma has scored 114 runs at an average of just 14.25 with the highest score of 30* in ten innings against Pakistan.

308 – Kohli has amassed 308 runs in five innings at a staggering average of 308.00 with four half-centuries against Pakistan in T20 World Cups.

533 – Kohli has mustered 533 runs in 11 innings at an average of 76.14 with six fifties in T20Is in Australia.

5 – Kohli is now joint-top with Kane Williamson for most 50-plus scores (5) against Pakistan in T20Is.