In a thrilling Asia Cup Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium, India defeated Pakistan by five wickets. Hardik Pandya scored three boundaries and a six in the final two overs of the 148-run chase to help India win with two balls remaining. Pandya continued to go unbeaten at 33 while Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja each played innings of 35 to give India a respectable starting point.
With one wicket loss, the Indian experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Kohli played with caution but kept smashing the boundaries to keep the scoreboard running.
At that point, Kohli’s wicket put India under pressure, but that was instantly eased by Jadeja who smashed Nawaz for a six. After 10 over India’s score read 62/3.
Suryakumar Yadav then joined Jadeja in smashing Pakistan bowlers all around the ground. Both batters played some big shots with grit to keep India’s run chase hunt alive.
Pakistan made a stunning comeback in the match as their bowler Naseem Shah bowled out Suryakumar Yadav after scoring 18 runs in 18 balls. All-rounder Hardik Pandya came to the crease to join hands with Jadeja.
Earlier, fiery and tight bowling spells by Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India bundle out arch-rival Pakistan for 147 in a blockbuster clash in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan smashed 43 runs while Iftikhar Ahmed scored 28. For India Hardik Pandya bagged three while Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped four and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets.
Opting to field first, India got off to a decent start as their star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave his team a big breakthrough as he dismissed Pakistan captain Babar Azam after scoring 10 runs on 9 deliveries in the third over of the innings.
The duo of Rizwan and Ahmed went on to take their team’s total beyond the 50-run mark. It was a good first half for Indian bowlers as they restricted Pakistan to 68/2 after 10 overs.
India did not give Pakistan a chance to balance itself after back-to-back blows. Arshdeep Singh struck against in the 18th over and dismissed Mohammad Nawaz who could only manage to score one run.
In the 19th over, Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan opened their hands to smash big hits, but their hammering was cut short by Bhuvneshwar LBW out Shadab Khan after scoring 10 runs.
In the same over Bhuvneshwar struck again, dismissing Naseem Shah scoring just zero runs.
In the last, over of the innings, Arshdeep ended Pakistan’s inning as he helped India bundle out Men in Green for 147.