Asia Cup T20 2022, IND vs PAK: Social media rejoice as India triumphs by 5 wickets in a thriller
India gave a high-profile competition to Pakistan in Asia Cup T20 2022 in Dubai on Sunday. Eventually, it was the Indians who had the last laugh, winning by five wickets, sending social media rejoicing.
FollowIt was pure entertainment from a cricketing perspective and the rivalry considering India and Pakistan. Playing Game 2 of the 2022 Asia Cup T20 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, the Indians came out on top, defeating Pakistan by five wickets and avenging the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 defeat at the same ground. While seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar did the job with the ball for the Men in Blue, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardik Pandya did the same with the bat, while the Men in Green looked worn off by some injury concerns and the humid weather. At the same time, social media was rejoicing due to the Indian win.
Winning the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bowl and chose Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant as his wicketkeeper-batter in the XI. Pakistan was off to a tad jerky start, losing a couple for 42 by the sixth over of the Powerplay, with captain-cum-opener Babar Azam (10) falling to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
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However, opener Mohammad Rizwan (43) and Iftikhar Ahmed (28) added 45 for the third wicket to stabilise the Pakistan innings before pacer Hardik Pandya dismissed the latter in the 13th. At 96, Rizwan was the fourth wicket to fall to the same man in the 15th, as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Eventually, Pakistan was bowled out for 147, with a ball to spare in the innings. For India, Bhuvneshwar grabbed four, while leg-spinner Ravindra Jadeja was economical. In reply, India suffered a jolt, losing KL Rahul in the second ball after being played on off debutant pacer Naseem Shah. Rohit (12) and Virat Kohli (35) added 49 for the second wicket before the former fell to orthodox spinner Mohammad Nawaz in the eighth.
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While Kohli departed a couple of overs later to Nawaz at 53, Ravindra Jadeja (35) and Suryakumar Yadav (18) added 36 for the fourth before Naseem cleaned up the latter in the 15th. Nevertheless, the former stayed strong and, along with Hardik Pandya (33*), added 52 for the fifth wicket to keep India in the chase.
At the start of the 17th, Pakistan was penalised for slow over-rate, resulting in a fielder less at the boundary, while a couple of Pakistan pacers suffered cramps. At this moment, India decided to launch an attack on the bowlers. As the equation came down to seven off the final six, Jadeja was knocked over by Nawaz.
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Nevertheless, Pandya stayed calm and smashed one off Nawaz over the long-on boundary to hand India a five-wicket victory. For Pakistan, Nawaz grabbed four, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan was the most economical of all.
Brief scores: PAK 147 in 19.5 overs (Rizwan- 43; Bhuvneshwar- 4/26, Pandya- 3/25) lost to IND 148/5 in 19.4 overs (Kohli- 35, Jadeja- 35, Pandya- 33*; Nawaz- 3/33) by five wickets.
