The enormity of the Indo-Pak rivalry was clearly visible in New York as the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium was packed with fans
But to the fans’ dismay, the toss was delayed due to rain
After close to 45 minutes after the scheduled start time, the captains walked out to the middle for toss
Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened the innings for India while Shaheen Shah Afridi started with the ball
There was stoppage of play yet again as rain returned and got intense. India was 8/0 in 1 over
Virat was off the mark with a four through covers but fell off the next delivery as Naseem Shah had the last laugh
Afridi provided yet another breakthrough for Pakistan as he dismissed Rohit
Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel, who was promoted up the order, added 39 runs for the third wicket before the latter perished
Pant’s counter-attacking 31-ball 42 came to a close as Amir struck in the 15th over
Suryakumar Yadav was the next batter to fall as he was decieved by Haris Rauf’s slower one. Mohammed Amir completed a simple catch at mid-off
Naseem Shah and Rauf picked three wickets apiece to trigger a collapse as India found itself at 112/9
Bumrah provided the early breakthrough for India as Babar was caught at slips via a sensational catch from Suryakumar Yadav
But Rizwan, on the other hand, stood his ground and put on a 31-run partnership with Usman Khan
At the end of 10 overs, Pakistan was 57/1 with Rizwan and Usman in the middle
India tightened the screws in the middle overs as its bowling unit conceded just 26 runs, picking up three wickets in the 11-15 over phase
By the time Bumrah dismissed Rizwan, Pakistan was 80/4 in the 15th over, needing 40 overs to do the job
Bumrah dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed in the last ball of the penultimate over and finished with three wickets while conceding just 14 runs
With 18 to defend, Arshdeep Singh started off the final over with the wicket of Shadab Khan, thanks to Rohit’s superb DRS call
The bowling unit rose to the occasion to help their side to secure an unlikely win as India beat Pakistan by six runs