India Comeback Strongly To Defend 119 And Beat Pakistan
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2024-06-10 03:06:39
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
It was a sensational match in which both teams had their chances on a tricky pitch but India prevailed in the end. Pakistan played like champions in the first half when the Indian batting collapsed like a house of cards after a small resistance by Rishabh Pant (in partnership with Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav) who lived dangerously. But 119 (Indias lowest T20 score against Pakistan in a World Cup match) was not expected to be a winning total, not when it was a do-or-die situation for Pakistan, who, having lost to the USA earlier, were facing a probable exit from the tournament if they lost this one. India were down and out at that juncture.
Pakistan, on the other hand, knew they had every chance of winning the match and Babar Azam and Md Rizwan started confidently. The Indians kept on pegging at the right spots but the runs kept on coming until Babar could not keep one down. Later, a magical spell from Jasprit Bumrah (3/14) broke the back bone of the Pakistani innings and India were back in the game. Hardik Pandya also chipped in with wickets at crucial moments.
Pakistan lost the plot while batting.This is their second consecutive defeat (they had earlier surprisingly lost to a plucky USA) and makes it difficult for them to progress to the Super Eights. India, on the other hand, with two wins from as many matches, look certain to qualify. But they will have to introspect and the batters will have to perform better. Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav are underperforming while Hardik, Shivam Dube and Jadeja looked out of depth. Not every day will the bowlers come to the rescue if the the batting unit puts up a below-par score on the board. With two matches against USA and Canada left, the batting unit has to find its rhythm if India is to seriously compete in the Super Eights.
