India Outlasts Pakistan in Tense T20 World Cup Battle

News Desk 

Islamabad: India outplayed Pakistan by six runs in the Group A encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium late Sunday.

The safe hands of Rishabh Pant and the combined bowling efforts of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya secured a narrow but crucial win for India.

Victory seemed unlikely when Pakistan made a solid start to their run chase of 120, reaching 57/1 after ten overs, having only lost Babar Azam. They needed just 63 runs from the remaining 60 balls, but lost five wickets in the second half of their innings, ending up seven runs short of their target.

Pakistan made one change from the team that lost to the USA in a super over, with Imad Wasim replacing Azam Khan, while India retained the same lineup that beat Ireland.

Rain disrupted the start of the match, delaying the toss and the first ball, and then forced the teams off the pitch after the first over. Once play resumed, the drama shifted to the field. Virat Kohli fell early, hitting a wide ball from Naseem Shah straight to Usman Khan.

Rohit Sharma followed, failing to connect well with a ball from Shaheen Shah Afridi, resulting in a catch by Haris Rauf at deep square leg, leaving India at 19/2. Naseem then bowled Axar Patel, leaving India at 58/3 with Rishabh Pant tasked with pushing the innings forward. Pant formed a solid partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who was eventually caught by Mohammad Amir for 7. Pant fell for 42, hitting Amir straight up into the air to be caught by Babar Azam.

Ravindra Jadeja was caught by Imad Wasim the next ball, with India reaching their century in the 16th over. Hardik Pandya was the eighth man out, caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off Rauf. Jasprit Bumrah was caught by Wasim in the slips, leaving India at 112/9 with 13 balls remaining.

The innings ended when Arshdeep Singh was run out on the last ball of the penultimate over by a great throw from Babar and swift work from Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan made a good start in their chase, with Babar Azam caught by Yadav in the slips off Bumrah in the fifth over, leaving them at 26/1. Rizwan and Usman Khan pushed on, reaching 57/1 at the halfway point and needing 63 runs from 60 balls.

India successfully reviewed an lbw decision against Usman off Axar Patel, confirmed by HawkEye to have taken out leg stump. Fakhar Zaman, who had hit a four and a six, was caught by Pant off Hardik Pandya.

The turning point came with the dismissal of Rizwan for 31, bowled by Bumrah at the start of the 15th over, leaving Pakistan at 80/4 with an increasing required run rate. Pant caught Shadab, who had lofted a ball from Hardik, and Arshdeep caught Iftikhar off Bumrah, narrowly avoiding a collision with Yadav.

Pakistan started the final over on 102/6, and Arshdeep removed Imad Wasim with another catch by Pant, ending Pakistan’s innings seven runs short of their target.