Title favourites India produced yet another clinical performance as they outplayed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in a high-voltage group league encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy here today.
In a match where there were numerous rain-interruptions, Pakistan were bundle out for 165 in 39.4 overs due to a disciplined effort by the Indian bowling unit led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returned with figures of two for 19.
India's final revised target courtesy D/L method was 102 in 22 overs which the 'Men In Blue' achieved with 17 balls to spare as Shikhar Dhawan again blazed his way to a 41-ball-48.
India thus finished group league engagements with an all-win
record.
Winning the 'prestige battle' against Pakistan will certainly be a big morale-booster for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men as they await their semi-final opponents whom they will take on in the second semi-final in Cardiff on June 20.
The win was also India's first in the Champions Trophy having lost against the same opponents in the 2004 and 2009 editions of the tournament.
With game frequently delayed by intermittent rain, India never lost sight of the target as the openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (18) again gave a solid start adding 58 runs for the opening stand. While Rohit was a bit subdued, there was no stopping Dhawan who repeatedly peppered the off-side field.
In all he hit five boundaries and just when a half-century was there for the taking, the Delhi lad slashed hard at one from Wahab Riaz to be caught at the deep third-man boundary. Virat Kohli (22 no) and Dinesh Karthik (11 no) ensured that there were no hiccups in the chase.
Earlier, India's bowling quartet of Bhuvneshwar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma shared the bulk of the spoils as they never really let Pakistan batsmen off the hook.
The rain probably spared Pakistan a bigger humiliation. Sharma and Dhawan were again in good touch. On an Edgbaston wicket where the Pakistan new ball bowlers, Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan, bend their back and extracted some pace and bounce, the batsmen looked quite at ease.
With rains looming on the horizon, the Indians were virtually racing along, scoring 45 in the mandatory powerplay of eight overs. Dhawan was in punishing mood, twice slapping Junaid in the arc between point and extra-cover.
Earlier, spin twins Ravindra Jadeja (2/30 in 8 overs)and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/35 in 8 overs) kept the Pakistan batsmen on a leash during middle overs after brilliant opening spell by Bhuvneshwar, who again produced the goods upfront. The match which was initially reduced to 40-overs-a-side due to frequent rain interruptions saw 'Men In Blue' control proceedings right from the beginning as they bundled out their opponents in only 39.4 overs.
While Asad Shafiq (41) was the top-scorer for Pakistan, a lot of their batsmen got starts but were unable to convert into substancial score due to some impressive bowling by the quartet of Jadeja, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar and Ishant Sharma (2/40). The bowlers produced wickets at regular intervals as Pakistan's woeful show with the bat continued.
The top-order again saw a familiar collapse. Nasir Jamshed, who has scored all his three ODI centuries against India, failed to reproduce his magic this time.
The left-handed opener was circumspect and enjoyed a 'life' when on 1. Ruled out leg before by umpire Richard Kettleborough, the batsman was saved by the DRS but his innings was cut short by a beauty from Bhuvneshwar.
Bhuvneshwar got the ball to swing both ways and found the edge of Jamshed's tentative prod which saw Suresh Raina complete an easy catch at second slip. Jamshed scored just 2 runs off nine balls. But for a gutsy 27 not out off 26 balls from Umar Amin, the Pakistan tail refused to wag. A combination of good fielding and tight bowling snuffed out any lusty hitting in the death overs as unbeaten India eyed their third straight win in group B.
No comments:
Post a Comment