Pakistan broke its World Cup jinx against India and that too in style as it hammered the men in blue by 10 wickets in Dubai.
October 24, 2021, will forever be etched in the memory of both Pakistan and Indian fans as after 13 attempts, the Babar Azam-led side halted the Indian juggernaut in the World Cup.
The act enfolded as if everything was scripted - the stage set for Pakistan - right from the toss to the bowlers executing their plans to precision and the Pakistan openers walking on a batting paradise.
Sent into bat, Shaheen Shah Afridi breathed fire as the left-arm pacer rocked the Indian top order.
Rohit Sharma’s vulnerability against the swinging ball was exposed in the very first over as the inswinger thudded onto the back leg. KL Rahul paid the price of playing across the line as Afridi and Pakistan wheeled off in wild celebrations.
India didn’t bother to change its batting combination as Suryakumar Yadav joined Virat Kohli only to be dismissed by Hasan Ali.
Having lost three wickets inside the PowerPlay for just 33 runs on the board, India was forced to play the defensive game with Rishabh Pant walking in early at No.5 but not able to break the shackles.
Kohli was steady at the other end, resisting a fiery Pakistani attack. The then India skipper relied on agricultural shots, rotated the strike and got to his half-century in 45 balls. But, by then, Pant was back in the hut after falling into the spin trap of Shadab Khan.
Ravindra Jadeja was promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya, but the all-rounder searched for timing and eventually, Hasan Ali with a slower one ended the southpaw’s painstaking 28-minute stay at the crease. Out walked Pandya, but Pakistan celebrated with Shaheen bouncing out Kohli.
Pakistan did extremely well to restrict India to 151/7 but still had to bat well to achieve the target. The bowlers did their part and it was now the turn of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan to make India huff and puff.
The Chase
Early wickets were the order of the day but neither the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar nor the pace of Mohammed Shami could rattle the Pakistan openers.
Kohli then attacked with the pace of Jasprit Bumrah and the spin of Varun Chakravarthy in a bid to break the stand. That move neither fetched wickets nor could see India apply breaks on the scoring.
India didn’t allow Pakistan to completely run away with the game but the PowerPlay yielded 43 runs without a wicket and Pakistan required 109 from 84 deliveries.
India needed a miracle, not that day, said Babar and Rizwan as they sent the white ball flying all around the park. It was spin from both ends with Jadeja and Varun operating in tandem.
The Pakistan openers were clinical, playing shots on either side of the wicket with dew being their ally.
The batsmen were in a rhythm, the Indian attack hardly threatening and as the evening progressed, the green flags dominated their blue counterparts flew high with Babar and Rizwan bossing the run chase as a 152-run opening stand saw Pakistan romp home by 10 wickets.
Brief Scores: IND 151/7 after 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39, Shaheen Afridi 3/31, Hasan Ali 2/44) lost to PAK 152/0 (Mohammad Rizwan 79 n o, Babar Azam 68 n o) by 10 wickets
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