ICC T20 World Cup 2022, IND vs PAK: Virat Kohli magic, final over thriller gives India perfect Diwali gift
On Sunday, India sneaked past Pakistan by four wickets in the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne. Virat Kohli played a game of an innings, leaving the Pakistanis heartbroken and gave the netizens a Diwali gift.
FollowDiwali arrived a day early in India. It was the ultimate thriller between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in their Super 12 opener of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup at the sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. In what seemed to be Pakistan's game to lose for most of the match, the Indians turned it around in the latter half of the chase, especially in the death overs, thanks to Virat Kohli's classy unbeaten knock of 82, enormously aided by Hardik Pandya's 40. A final-over thriller and a picture-perfect finish left the netizens spellbound and the Pakistanis heartbroken.
Winning the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma invited the Pakistanis to bat, who were off to a disturbing start, losing their openers by the fourth over of the Powerplay (PP), with just 15 runs on the board. However, Masood and Iftikar took charge of the innings thereon, adding a 76-run stand for the third wicket.
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At the same time, the Iftikar scored his third Twenty20 International (T20I) half-century before seamer Mohammed Shami trapped him leg-before. His knock arrived off 34 balls, including a couple of fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 150.00. However, the incoming batters did not impress much, as the Indians tightened the screws.
While the Pakistanis were down to 120/7 by the 17th, Masood and Shaheen Afridi (16) added 31 for the eighth wicket before the latter fell to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the final over. Nevertheless, Iftikar did his job, hitting his second T20I 50, propelling Pakistan to a par total of 159/8, while his knock came off 42 deliveries that included five fours and an S/R of 123.81.
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For the Indians, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Shami snared three wickets each, while Bhuvneshwar was the most economical lad. In reply, India was off to a torrid start. It lost three for 26 by the sixth over of the PP and down to 31/4 by the following. However, Kohli and Pandya played some serious cricket thereon, putting on a critical 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
They allowed India to remain in the chase and inched closer to victory. During this stand, Kohli brought up his 34th T20I half-century and turned the game around by the end of the 19th. With the equation down to 16 off the last six balls, Pandya was dismissed off the opening ball of the over from orthodox spinner Mohammad Nawaz.
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Nevertheless, Kohli hammered a couple of sixes, with the latter coming off a waist-height no-ball, while the resulting free-hit conceded three runs. With Dinesh Karthik (1) stumped off the next delivery and a couple needed off one, a wide levelled the score, while Ravichandran Ashwin (4*) hit the winning four to seal a memorable four-wicket win for the Indians. As the Pakistanis were heartbroken, pacer Haris Rauf and Nawaz clasped a couple, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan was economical.
Brief scores: PAK 159/8 (Masood- 52*, Iftikhar- 51; Arshdeep- 3/32, Pandya- 3/30) lost to IND 160/6 (Kohli- 82*, Pandya- 40; Rauf- 2/36) by four wickets.
