ICC World Cup 2019: Match 22, India vs Pakistan, Review – Belligerent Rohit brushes Pakistan away; India 7-0 up against arch-rivals

History repeated itself and the men in green, who were waiting from 1992 to taste success against India in World Cups will have to wait for another four years as Virat Kohli and his troops registered their third win of the campaign. Rain gods showed great mercy upon the cricket lovers and both sides lived up to the expectations, giving the fans another classic.

The intention from the Indian openers was clear batting first. They wanted to see off the first few overs from Mohammad Amir and KL Rahul and barely tried to touch his deliveries. Rohit Sharma at the other end was hammering Hasan Ali, forcing Sarfaraz Ahmed to bring in Wahab Riaz inside the powerplay. Once both batsmen caught up, it was just a visual treat watching the duo perform their duties.

Rohit got to his half-century in just 34 deliveries, but his scoring rate came down courtesy some decent bowling in the middle overs. KL Rahul was filling up for Shikhar Dhawan in this game and he scored a crucial fifty, also taking their partnership past the 100-run mark. After adding 136 runs for the first wicket, Rahul chipped a delivery straight to short covers through a mistimed drive.

Rohit continued to go about his business and brought up his second century of the tournament. He upped the ante alongside skipper Virat Kohli, who too kept the scoreboard ticking at a good pace. Rohit was dismissed for a sensational 140 off just 113 balls and he set the tone brilliantly for the slog-over specialists to come in and go berserk. Yet, it wasn’t to be the case.

Virat Kohli battled his way to a half-century and also brought up 11,000 International runs. Kohli was dismissed for a handy 77 off 65 balls but the likes of Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav didn’t have the finest night with the bat. There was a small rain interruption just before the innings ended, but thankfully it didn’t kill any overs. India finished with 336 runs for the loss of five wickets after 50 overs.

Same old story for Pakistan – Promising start followed by a horrendous collapse

After Bhuvneshwar Kumar decided to leave the ground feeling a hamstring injury, Vijay Shankar came in and provided the first breakthrough off the first ball he bowled. But what followed later was a beautiful exhibition of batting from Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman. The duo kickstarted their partnership a bit too slowly, but they did manage to pick up soon.

They looked comfortable against the spinners and even targetted Yuzvendra Chahal. Fakhar Zaman was beginning to loosen up after getting to his half-century and Babar Azam too was closing in on a fifty. At 117/1 in 23.5 overs, it seemed like they’re very much on to go all the way, but Kuldeep churned out an absolute peach from his wrists to knock down Babar Azam’s stumps.

Fakhar Zaman too followed his partner in Kuldeep’s next over, edging a sweep shot straight to fine-leg. Hardik Pandya dismissed the experienced campaigners Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik off consecutive deliveries and in a span of 19 deliveries, Pakistan lost 4 wickets. After that, they were never alive in the game despite some good fight back from Imad Wasim and Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Right after Vijay Shankar knocked over Sarfaraz, with the scorecard reading 166/6 in 35 overs, rain gods reminded people they were a very integral part of today’s program and took over the session for a while. The target was revised to 302 runs in 40 overs when play resumed after 45 minutes, which meant they had to get 136 runs in five overs. The Indian bowlers successfully completed the final rites and they now have seven points in their kitty.

Brief Scores

India: 336/5 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 140, Virat Kohli 77, KL Rahul 57; Mohammad Amir 3/47)

Pakistan: 212/6 in 40 overs (Fakhar Zaman 62, Babar Azam 48; Vijay Shankar 2/22, Kuldeep Yadav 2/32, Hardik Pandya 2/44)

Result: India won by 89 runs (D/L Method)

Man of the match: Rohit Sharma

Points Table: