An all-round performance from India saw it extend its World Cup lead to 7-0. Rohit Sharma struck a fine hundred and alongwith Virat Kohli, helped power India to a big total. In the bowling department, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal strangled the opposition middle order and Kohli and Co. cruised to a convincing 86-wicket win in Manchester.
That would be all from our side. This is Ayan Acharya signing off. Night!
Pandya to finish things off. Dot and a single. Another single. Three more legitimate deliveries left. That's that. INDIA 7 - PAKISTAN 0 in World Cup. Brilliant from Kohli and Co.
SHOT! Imad Wasim brings up the team 200 with a fabulous straight drive for four. Imad's playing a nice little cameo here: another boundary to third-man. PAK 208/6 after 39 overs.
Out come Shadab and Imad. Yuzi Chahal with the ball. Six runs from the over. Bumrah back into the attack. Shadab Khan ends the over with a boundary to long-off. 10 from it. Chahal continues. Imad Wasim shows off his powerhitting skills, smacks his fourth four. DROPPED! KL Rahul has dropped a dolly and Shadab survives. PAK 196/6 after 38 overs.
The umpires are out for an inspection. Right, play will resume in 10 minutes. Pakistan needs 136 off 30 balls .
Rains have returned and the covers are back on. The DLS par score is 252.
======================
Imad Wasim is taking on Bumrah. Flat bats it down the ground for four. Eight runs from the over. Shankar strikes; gets the skipper out and that's surely the match? Shadab Khan comes to the crease. Excellent over. One run and a wicket.
Six singles off that Hardik over. Pakistan needs 191 runs. Bumrah returns for his second spell. Imad Wasim pulls the last ball away for four. Eight from the over. Vijay Shankar back into the attack. Three runs from the over. PAK 157/5 after 33 overs.
Imad Wasim is in next. Kuldeep Yadav slips in a three-run over. Hardik is on a hat-trick in his next over. Sarfaraz survives it with a solid defence. Five from that over. Kuldeep continues to be economical. PAK 140/5 after 30 overs.
Hardik Pandya is back into the attack. He strikes : Hafeez is out caught at deep square leg and Pakistan are four down. Shoaib Malik in. Shoaib Malik out. Pandya cleans him up. What an over this has been. Golden duck. PAK 129/5 after 27 overs.
Hafeez gets stuck into Chahal this time, finishes his fifth over with a slog sweep for six. Pakistan needs 211 runs to win. GONE! Fakhar now. and it's that man Kuldeep again: Big wicket and both set batsmen are now back in the hunt. Sarfaraz Ahmed at the crease. Wicket maiden, PAK 126/3 after 26 overs.
Chahal into his fourth over. Babar goes down on one knee, clears deep mid-wicket with ease. He brings up the 100-run stand with a single. 10 from that one. Bowled'em! Kuldeep cleans up Babar with a classic leg-spinner. Massive wicket. Hafeez in next. PAK 117/2 after 24 overs.
Fakhar gets to his fifty with a huge six off Chahal. His first half-century in World Cup. Eight runs off the over. Pakistan in the driver's seat at the moment. Kuldeep into his fifth over. Fakhar in his elements, slog sweeps it over mid-wicket for four. 100 up for Pakistan. Eight form it. PAK 103/1 after 22 overs.
Kuldeep continues. So, two leggies in tandem. Five singles off the 18th over. Chahal to bowl his second. Two runs off it. A close stumping call was the only highlight off that Kuldeep over. PAK 87/1 after 20 overs.
Hardik continues. Fakhar is growing in confidence - hammers a boundary to deep mid-wicket. And another four, this time to third-man. 11 from that over. Yuzi Chahal into the attack. Four runs coming off it. PAK 79/1 after 17 overs.
First sign of spin. Kuldeep into the attack. Just a two singles off it in the end. Pandya goes for a four and four singles off his third over. Kuldeep continues. Good over in the end. Six runs for Pakistan. PAK 64/1 after 15 overs. DRINKS! Pakistan needs 273 runs.
UPDATE : Bhuvi won't take any further part in the match.
Vijay returns into the attack. Good over, just four coming off it. Pandya concedes three from his second. A quiet spell of play. Shankar continues. Fakhar and Babar have weathered the early storm and now look in control. Here's an example of it: Fakhar ends the over with a boundary. PAK 49/1 after 12 overs.
Bumrah continues. He is troubling Fakhar with the away going ball. Three dots. Make that four. Almost a maiden but Bumrah errs in line and Fakhar works it off his hips for four. Hardik Pandya into the attack. SHOT! Babar scythes one through the overs for four. Five from it. PAK 34/1 after 9 overs.
Babar Azam has joined Fakhar. Bumrah's third goes for six, with Babar hammering a boundary off the last ball. Vijay Shankar continues. Fakhar works the first ball past fine leg for four. Good comeback though from Shankar. One off the next five. PAK 25/1 after 7 overs.
Bhuvi is bowling brilliantly here; twice now he has managed to outsmart Imam. The ball's jumping off the seam on both occassions. Bhuvi's stretched his hamstring itseems. He's off the field. Vijay Shankar will bowl the last two balls. GONE! What a dream start with the ball. Imam has been given out lbw, that's going down leg side but the batsman decides against a review. PAK 14/1 after 5 overs.
Bhuvi continues. Six from that over with Imam too getting his first boundary. Bumrah keeping it tight from the other end: three dots and a single so far. Just a one run off that over, and of course that fifth ball jaffa which beat Fakhar all ends up. PAK 13/0 after 4 overs.
Bhuvi with the new ball. We are all set for the chase to begin. Imam's off the mark with a single. Fakhar, too, opens his account with a single. A dot to end the over. Bumrah to share the new ball. Errs in length, and Zaman carves it through covers for four. Five dots from it. PAK 6/0 after 2 overs.
=========================
Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman were about to begin the chase when it started to drizzle again. Hang on, the sun's out now in full force. What are the rain gods upto?
=========================
Rohit Sharma's second hundred of this World Cup coupled with Virat Kohli's 77 powered India to 336/5. Mohammad Amir starred with the ball, picking three wickets. Pakistan needs 337 to win. We will be back with the run chase shortly.
As we wait for the innings to resume, here's a quick lowdown on how the Duckworth-Lewis system works| India vs Pakistan: How does the DLS method work?
============================
Jadhav gets one away for four. 12 from Wahab's final over. Amir to bowl out. Single and a dot to get things udnerway. Shankar gets into the act, collects a four. Now a single. India finishes on 336/5.
Kohli ends the over with a glide to third-man for four. Nine from that over. Amir has won the battle: has Kohli caught behind for 77. India has lost a fifth wicket . Kedar Jadhav comes to the crease. Four runs and a wicket. IND 315/5 after 48 overs.
Kohli and Shankar troop back to the middle. Wahab has two balls left.
==========================
Match to resume at 7:10 pm IST. No overs lost. There will be a mid-innings break of 15 minutes.
==========================
Shankar has been given out. He reviews and replays show no edge. He survives. Sorry folks... Been a little tardy with the updates. The drizzle has died down significantly as we speak. The covers are coming off .
GONE! Amir has got the big fish: Dhoni tries to go for the big shot, gets a thick edge to the keeper. Vijay Shankar comes to the crease. Shankar gets off the mark with a single. Kohli takes India past 300 with a quick double. Four off the over.
Two back-to-back fifties for Kohli, who hares back for a second. Follows it up with a bundary. Pandya now perishes trying to up the ante: Amir with a wicket. 12 runs and a wicket. Dhoni joins Virat. Kohli becomes the fastest batsman to 11,000 ODI runs with a boundary. Four more, this time to fine leg. Kohli cutting loose. 12 runs from the over. IND 298/3 after 45 overs.
Wahab is back into the attack. Kohli lifts a full delivery over long-off for four. Seven runs from the over. Hassan continues. Hardik gets a six and a four. India cruising towards 300. IND 274/2 after 43 overs.
Kohli pounces on the short ball from Shadab, short arm jab for four. End of the over. IND 248/2 after 40 ovrs . Hassan continues. Four singles and a brace from it. IND 254/2 after 41 overs.
Hassan Ali is welcomed back into the attack by Rohit with a boundary. But perishes the very next ball. He's out caught for 140 balls. Hardik Pandya joins Kohli. Eight runs off it.
Imad continues after the break. Five singles from the over. Wahab continues: short, on Rohit's body and he swivels a pull for four more. Another good over for India ; 10 from it. IND 230/1 after 38 overs.
Wahab is back into the attack. He stays round the wicket. Short, wide and Rohit will gobble them up any time of the day - four more. Nine from the over. DRINKS!
Imad Wasim concedes four off his eighth over. SHOT! Rohit slog sweeps Shadab for four. Eight off the over. The partnership is now 63 off 61 balls. Kohli brings up the 200 for India with a single. A boundary for Rohit and three runs from that over. IND 206/1 after 35 overs.
Kohli, now, makes his presence felt with a glorious drive on the up. Amir concedes his first four of the match. Nine from that over. Six off Shadab's seventh over. IND 187/1 after 32 overs.
Mohammad Amir is back into the attack. Just one from the over. Amir's been brilliant with the ball. Shadab Khan returns into the attack. ANOTHER HUNDRED FOR ROHIT SHARMA: his second this edition and third in World Cups.
Hassan Ali has been carted away for a six. Rohit moves into the nineties with that hit over point for six. Nine off the over. Hassan's been leaking runs in this spell. Rohit's eight shy of a second hundred in this edition. Wahab Riaz into his fifth over. Only four off it. IND 164/1 after 28 overs.
Kohli has joined Rohit in the middle. Hassan Ali back into the attack. Another inside edge and another four - Rohit moves into the eighties. Expensive over. 10 off it. Wahab continues from round the wicket. Kohli brings up the 150 with a single. IND 151/1 after 26 overs.
Wahab back into the attack. Nothing's going Pakistan's way at the moment. Wahab's been warned for running into the danger area. Second warning for Wahab. GONE! Forced to go round the wicket, and Wahab snaps up Rahul who's caught for 57 . IND 136/1 after 24 overs.
Shoaib Malik into the attack. Rahul gets to his fifty now with a maximum over deep mid-wicket . Mohammad Hafeez has been brought into the attack. Rohit greets him with a majestic hit down the ground - FOUR. Now Rahul launches him over long-off for six. 11 from that over.
Imad to continue. Tidy over. Just two off it. Shadab too keeping things tight from the other end... two runs in his over as well. Imad's into his seventh over. So Sarfaraz Ahmed persists with spin from both ends. Five singles and a brace from the over. IND 112/0 after 21 overs.
Imad into his fifth over. After the 17th over, India's one short of 100. Brilliant start. 100 up for India with that single from KL. Only two runs from that Shadab over. DRINKS on the field now.
Better comeback from
Imad Shadab. Keeps it down to three in his second over. Imam backs it up with a steady over: only from it. Rohit's in the zone, gets a boundary off Shadab's first ball. Six from that over.
IND 93/0 after 16 overs.
Shadab Khan into the attack. Rahul greets him with a boundary; short and wide and the bowler pays the price. Rohit joins the fun, hammers one over long-on for six. Rohit brings up his fifty with a four off the very next ball. 17 from the over. Imad continues. Just one off the over. IND 80/0 after 13 overs.
HARAKIRI! Nearly... Complete breakdown in communication between the two and a throw down the wrong end saves Rohit. Riaz continues. Rohit brings up the fifty stand with a cracking boundary. Rohit's raced to 37 of 29 balls. Rahul now: helps it to fine leg for four. Nine from the over. IND 62/0 after 11 overs.
Amir's bowled a probing line and length thus far. Only three from his fourth over. His figures so far. Amir: 4-1-8-0. Wahab Riaz has been brought into the attack. Four to end the over... Rohit's up and running. First signs of spin: Imad Wasim, left-arm orthodox, comes into the attack. Goes for four. IND 46/0 after 9 overs.
Rahul's up for a challenge: Amir goes short and KL pulls him for four. Second warning for Amir ... he's flirting with the danger zone. Another warning and he will be taken out of the attack. Slower ball to end the over. Four from it. Rohit, at the other end, is growing in confidence. Hassan goes short and Rohit cuts it for four. WOW! Six to end the over. IND 32/0 after 6 overs.
Amir continues. Another good over. Only two from it in the end. SHOT! Rohit gets his second boundary - much more convincing this time; an off-drive for four. Hassan continues to be taken for runs. Five from that over. IND 16/0 after 4 overs.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul troop out. Mohammad Amir with the new ball. Starts with three dots. Three more follow. Amir's off the blocks with a maiden. Hasan Ali to share the new ball. Inside edge and four - lucky way to start the innings for Rohit but he'll take it. Nine runs from the over. IND 9/0 after 2 overs.
Teams step out for their respective national anthems. First up, it's Pakistan. We are done with the formalities. Now to cricket!
========================
TOSS UPDATE: Pakistan has won the toss and elected to bowl first.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
Virat Kohli: "We would have bowled first to be honest. Wicket looks really nice though. We will be in good set if we bat well. That's the kind of attention this game brings but once you enter the field it is all about playing your game. We have been playing good cricket and we don't want to tinker much with the team combination. We have one forced change in Vijay Shankar."
Sarfaraz Ahmed: "We will bowl first. It is raining so conditions are good for bowling. We have quality spinners and we have backed them today. We are not thinking about 6-0."
PITCH REPORT | "Looks like an even pitch for both batters and bowlers. It's a bit dry, there's a little grass on the surface but it's the kind of wicket where it doesn't matter what you do. Once the batters see off the new ball, it's a good pitch to bat on," reckons Michael Clarke.
Our reporter Shayan Acharya sends this from ground zero.
Follow the FIH Women's Series Finals LIVE| India vs Poland
UPDATE: In the meantime, the sun is peeping out in Manchester with an hour and a hlf to go for toss.
Mohammad Amir has troubled India in the past with pace and ability to move the ball, but Virat Kohli isn't narrowing down his focus on him alone| Not going to say anything for TRPs, says Kohli on Amir threat
Sportstar assesses the possible playing 11s for India and Pakistan for Sunday's highly-anticipated fixture at Old Trafford, Manchester| Karthik to replace Dhawan, Shadab to return to XI?
Weather's likely to play a big role in today's high-octane clash. Follow our live updates to stay abreast with the fickle weather in Manchester| India vs Pakistan Manchester weather LIVE updates
Ahead of India versus Pakistan game in World Cup 2019, former ICC elite-panel umpire Simon Taufel shares his experience of officiating matches between the two teams, including the 2011 World Cup semifinal in Mohali| How hard is it to umpire an India vs Pakistan World Cup game? Simon Taufel knows
It rained in Manchester late on Friday night, and the forecast for the India vs Pakistan match at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 16 is: “light rain showers and a moderate breeze.”| India vs Pakistan Manchester match day weather update
Aware of the jingoism and hype that precedes a India vs Pakistan cricket match, both Rashid Latif and Venkatesh Prasad, looked at things differently| India vs Pakistan hype for gains, pressure real
PREVIEW
K.C. Vijaya Kumar previews the high-octane match from Manchester
Match-preview days for sports scribes are all about quelling the nerves, figuring out the venue’s practice pitches where the teams train and identifying the press box.
Just as some Indian cricket writers trudged into Old Trafford, the setting for Sunday’s high-octane World Cup game involving India and Pakistan, a car slowed down on the adjacent road.
The youngster at the steering-wheel, leaned towards the window, rolled down the glass and said: “Whether we win the World Cup or not, doesn’t matter, but please win tomorrow’s game.” Soon he merged with Saturday’s morning traffic but confusion lingered. Did he speak in Hindi or Urdu? There was a Punjabi inflexion too in his pronunciation but it is a language spoken on either side of the border. So, was he Indian or Pakistani? And did he realise the nationality of the gentlemen he spoke to?
Read: Cricket chiefs deny World Cup TV 'gagging' order
The absurdity of the situation is revelatory. After the Radcliffe Line cleaved the two countries apart in 1947, historical angst, perceived slights, sibling rivalry and hyper-nationalism have all combined to nearly scythe a shared cultural umbilical cord. The youth’s utterance has another import, living as he does in an England city where the sub-continental Diaspora has a solid presence. If the squad he roots for, wins, then he gets the bragging rights over his friends from the rival nation.
And as these high-strung emotions swirled around the joust, the teams attempted to silence the surround-sound. Indian national cricket team has a historical grip in the World Cups, having won all its six clashes with the neighbour. Pakistan national cricket team, meanwhile, is referring to its ‘2017 ICC Champions Trophy’ notes when it defeated the arch-rival by 180 runs in the final at the Oval.
READ| World Cup 2019: Who will fight the rain?
The weather too has been phlegmatic, oscillating between sunshine and drizzle. The Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said that the pitch seemed brown but the existing atmospheric conditions might force the outfits to reinforce their respective pace-quotient. It remains to be seen if Virat Kohli would prefer Mohammed Shami over Kuldeep Yadav.
Following Shikhar Dhawan’s left-thumb injury, India will step in with K.L. Rahul and Rohit Sharma atop the batting tree. Since a middle-order slot opens up due to Rahul’s elevation, both Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar are in the reckoning. Kohli’s resources on display in the games against South Africa and Australia, seemed turbo-charged. Even if the washed-out Trent Bridge tussle against New Zealand was a dampener, the Men in Blue are better placed unlike a Pakistan, that reiterated its perennial adjective: ‘mercurial’.
READ| India versus Pakistan, World Cup chapter 7: The Manchester faceoff
Sarfaraz Ahmed’s men slumped against the West Indies, upset a fancied England, fumed over a washed-out fixture against Sri Lanka and then succumbed to Australia. Still, this is a unit that includes robust batsmen like Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez and also has the experience of a Shoaib Malik to rely upon even though he hasn’t fired yet. And in the bowling ranks, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz can test the best.
The decks are cleared, Old Trafford will be packed and a massive television audience would further enhance the contest’s halo.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the India versus Pakistan World Cup 2019 match at Old Trafford in Manchester.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.`
Comments
SHARE