ICC World Cup 2019, Match 22, India vs Pakistan – Best Memes from the Match

The match between India and Pakistan at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester was expected to be marred by rain. The heavens indeed opened up, but it couldn’t stop Virat Kohli and Co from making it 7-0 against the their arch-rivals in the World Cup. India won the match by 89 runs (DLS) method and moved to the third position in the points table. Pakistan is now ninth with three points from five games.

Rohit pummels Pakistan  

Under cloudy conditions, Pakistan included both their spinners- Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim– and chose to field first. The decision didn’t turn out to be a handy one as the Men in Blue got 336 runs in 50 overs. KL Rahul, who opened in place of Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma stitched together a stand of 136 runs in 23.5 overs to build the platform. The former was patient and got to his fifty off 69 balls.

Wahab Riaz gave Pakistan the breakthrough, nipping out Rahul, who got 57 with three fours and a couple of sixes. At the other end, Rohit looked ominous and he raced to his 24th ODI century off 85 balls. The 32-year-old racked up 140 runs off 113 balls with 14 fours and three sixes. Hasan Ali prized out his wicket in the 40th over. Virat Kohli showed maturity and rotated the strike to start his knock.

After Rohit got out, Virat stepped on the gas and scored 77 off 65 with seven fours. In the dying stages of the innings, rain interrupted play and after the resumption of play, Mohammad Amir accounted for Kohli’s wicket. Yet another time, Amir was Pakistan’s most successful bowler, picking up three wickets at the death. The swashbuckling Hardik Pandya played a cameo of 26 off 19 balls to propel India’s score.

All too comfortable for India

In the fifth over of Pakistan’s run-chase, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to walk off due to a hamstring injury. He didn’t take part in the rest of the game. Momentarily that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Vijay Shankar removed Imam-ul-Haq in his very first delivery. However, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam injected momentum into the innings with a steady and useful partnership of 104 runs off 115 balls.

An absolute beauty from Kuldeep Yadav got rid of Azam, who was looking solid with 48 off 57. A couple of overs later, the chinaman bowler removed the dangerous Fakhar after the left-hander threatened, having scored 62 off 75. In the next over, Pandya came to the party and removed the in-form Mohammad Hafeez. Shoaib Malik’s terrible run of form continued and he got out for a golden duck.

Sarfaraz Ahmed looked at sea and he became Shankar’s second victim. Thereafter, rain halted play and Pakistan was set with a target of 302 off 40 overs. It literally pulled the curtains down on the game as the Men in Green needed an impossible 136 runs off 30 balls. After the break, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan threw their bats around, but to no avail.

Here are the best memes: