India's endless series of victories over Pakistan: Defeated for the 8th time in the World Cup, Rohit
Team India has defeated Pakistan for the 8th time in the World Cup. India continued its endless winning streak and defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Indian team achieved the target of 192 runs in 30.3 overs. Captain Rohit Sharma played an inning of 86 runs. He made a partnership of 77 runs with Shreyas Iyer for the third wicket. Jasprit Bumrah, who took 2 wickets for 19 runs, was the player of the match.
Captain Babar Azam scored the only half-century in batting for Pakistan. Mohammad Rizwan was out on 49 runs. 5 Indian bowlers took 2-2 wickets. Apart from Rohit, Shreyas Iyer scored 53 runs for India. Shaheen Shah Afridi took 2 wickets.
Where did Pakistan lose, why did India win?
Babar Azam's wicket became the reason for India's victory. Before Babar was out, Pakistan was 155 runs for 2 wickets in 30 overs, but after Babar no batsman could survive. Babar scored runs slowly in the middle overs. Partnerships made the score bigger. But India put Pakistan on the backfoot by taking his wicket.
Indian bowlers bowled well. Wickets kept falling continuously and when Pakistan came under pressure, Rohit led aggressively and made correct changes in the bowlers. India's thinking was positive during the run chase. India has always been ahead of Pakistan in terms of run rate. Rohit Sharma's aggressive batting made the path to victory easy.
Rohit Sharma's power play
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill made an explosive start to chase the target of 192. Rohit hit a four on the very first ball. During his innings, Rohit hit 6 sixes and 6 fours. Shubhman Gill (16 runs) and Virat Kohli (16) could not convert good starts into big innings. Shreyas, who came to bat at number four, batted steadily. After Rohit's dismissal, Shreyas made a partnership of 36 runs with KL Rahul.
Shaheen's swing did not work
Shaheen Shah boosted Pakistan's hopes by taking the wicket of Shubman in the third over itself, but due to Rohit's explosive batting, the fall of this wicket did not make much difference. Virat Kohli became the victim of Hasan Ali in the 10th over. After this, the next wicket of Rohit Sharma fell in the 22nd over, but by then the score had reached 156 runs. The remaining work was done by the partnership of Shreyas and Rahul.
Virat got lifeline, but could not take advantage
Virat Kohli narrowly escaped being run out in the 9th over, but was caught out in the 10th over. Haris Rauf bowled the third ball of the over with a full toss, Rohit punched it, but the ball went into the hands of the mid-on fielder. Rohit came to half the pitch to run, but Kohli remained in the crease. Seeing Rohit coming towards him, Kohli also started taking runs, meanwhile fielder Shaheen Afridi threw a throw at the striker end. Kohli dived, but Afridi's throw did not hit the stumps.
Had the throw hit, Virat would have had to return to the pavilion. Virat could not take advantage of this lifeline and was caught out in the very next over. Hasan Ali sent him to the pavilion. Kohli scored 16 runs.
Pakistani team disintegrated in the middle overs
Captain Babar Azam scored a fifty for Pakistan. This was his first fifty against India in ODI. When Babar was out, Pakistan's score had reached 155 runs for 3 wickets in the 30th over. But after this the Pakistani batsmen scattered.
The team lost 8 wickets within 36 runs and was all out at 191. In these, Rizwan was out on the score of 49. Hasan Ali scored 12 runs. Apart from him, no other batsman reached double figures.
Rizwan got the support of DRS, partnership with Babar did not work
Pakistan's first wicket fell at the score of 41 runs. Mohammad Siraj gave out LBW to opener Abdullah Shafiq. After this, in the 13th over, Hardik got Imam Ul Haq caught out by KL Rahul. Babar and Rizwan made a partnership of 82 runs for the third wicket. Babar was bowled by Siraj after his first ODI fifty against India.
Rizwan could not complete his fifty. He survived Jadeja's first over. The umpire declared him LBW on Jadeja's ball. Rizwan took DRS, replays showed that the ball was going missing the leg stump. For this reason Rizwan remained not out. But, Rizwan was bowled by Bumrah in the 34th over.
Hardik's special action before Imam's wicket
Hardik Pandya bowled a short pitch on the second ball of the 13th over, on which Imam-ul-Haq hit a four. Before the next ball, he took the ball in his hand and was seen saying something. The third ball he bowled a fuller length outside the off stump and Imam was caught behind. After taking the wicket, Hardik signaled Imam to go out.