For large pockets of India’s chase at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday night, it appeared as if only one team was in the hunt, and that team didn’t answer to the name of India. Then, Virat Kohli shed his slumber, turning the clock back in stunning fashion to conjure a most memorable four-wicket win over Pakistan.
The Super 12s of the T20 World Cup officially kicked off on Saturday, but it was as if the tournament only came to life on Sunday. The cauldron that is the MCG, populated by more than 90,000 raucous fans, wasn’t for the weak-hearted even among the audience. Out in the middle, there was no scope for nerves and tension, which is easier said than done given how much hinges on the outcome of every Indo-Pak contest.
Arshdeep shines
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Pakistan to bat, India oscillated between the sublime and the ordinary—Arshdeep Singh’s twin strikes with the new ball nullified by a 21-run over from Axar Patel and some late pyrotechnics that carried Pakistan to 159 for eight. It was a tally that was worth a few more, given the size of the ground and the quality of the Pakistani pace attack, and India needed to be at their best from the off if they were to exact a measure of revenge for the 10-wicket drubbing a year back.
Haris Rauf, who plays for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and is more familiar than most with the conditions here, left India floundering at 31-4, with Kohli a mute spectator as wickets tumbled around him. At the halfway mark, India were 45-5, the former skipper a dissolute 12 off 21 and looking increasingly ragged and out of sorts. But, after the drinks break, Kohli was a man transformed. The old computer was back purring, working out gaps, calculating what was required, where the gaps were, which bowlers he could target to which parts of the ground. A towering straight six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz was the first indication that he was regaining rhythm. He and Hardik Pandya, who had bowled beautifully earlier (4-0-30-3), kept India in the hunt with a 113-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Also read: T20 World Cup India Vs Pakistan Updates: India beat Pakistan by 4 wickets
Dramatic final over
In a desperate bid to break that stand, Babar Azam bowled out his pacers, leaving Nawaz to defend 16 in a dramatic final over which included two wickets, a no-ball and a wide. Kohli, on a blazing unbeaten 82 off 53 balls (6×4, 4×6), was at the non-striker’s end when India needed one off the last ball. R Ashwin calmly bunted the ball into the outfield to complete the single, sending most of the audience into total delirium as India got on the board at the first
time of asking.
48
No. of runs scored by India in the last three overs against Pak yesterday
Brief scores
Pakistan 159-8 (S Masood 52*, I Ahmed 51; H Pandya 3-30, Arshdeep 3-32) lost to India 160-6 (Virat Kohli 82*, H Pandya 40, H Rauf 2-36, M Nawaz 2-42) by 4 wickets
