Ahead of the marquee clash against India, Pakistan captain Salman Agha spoke about the importance of playing an aggressive brand of cricket. That was arguably the goal, but Pakistan were not prepared for India’s bowling unit. Saim Ayub, touted as the next big thing in Pakistan cricket, departed for a golden duck. It was his second golden duck as the 23-year-old also failed to open his tally in the previous match against Oman.
In the next over itself, Jasprit Bumrah sent Mohammad Haris packing. Since then, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. The spinners dominated the middle overs as the Men in Green seemed clueless in the middle. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were highly effective in the middle. Patel clinched two wickets, while Kuldeep picked up three. With that, Pakistan were 83/7 at one point.
Towards the end, Shaheen Afridi made an unbeaten 33 runs off 16 balls, and that helped Pakistan posted 127/9 in the first innings. Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, was the second-most expensive bowler, and it was the first time that he conceded a six against Pakistan in international cricket.
When it came to the chase, Abhishek Sharma made it all easy for the Suryakumar Yadav-led side. The southpaw handed a blistering start, smacking 31 runs off just 13 balls. India lost Shubman Gill early, but that didn’t affect the team. Tilak Varma made 31 runs in the middle, but his strike rate was a concern. However, since the target was well within reach, it didn’t matter much.
Suryakumar also focused mostly on rotating strike. He played to the merit and got the job done with absolute ease. With the win, India got the job done and won the match by seven wickets.
Playing XI of India and Pakistan:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarth