The only battle Pakistan won yesterday was winning the toss against arch rivals India and batting first with the day entirely belonging to a heroic Virat Kohli who shrugged off a long haunting mortality drought to a match winning century displaying he was still a history making artist in the No.1 superstar bracket with the bat breathing down on compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s records to crossing the 14,000 ODI landmark to his 51st three figure record in what was a defining showdown putting out of arch rivals Pakistan out of the Champions Trophy in a 6-wicket triumph a the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
In what was the biggest match of the year, Kohli was in his element having crossed that early Achilees Heel danger of being undone to staying right up there the big showman he is reputed to be in putting behind the dwarfing rust of a long holocaust since his match winning half century in the victorious T20 World Cup final versus South Africa.
The pitch had no terrors, but Pakistan lacked match awareness, application, discipline, and determination playing against tournament favourites India that over the years have produced match winning batters.
The loss of Babar Azam, who looked composed on 23, with Pakistan on 41, opened the gates for an Indian intervention.
He nicked a fourth stump out swinger to K.L Rahul off Hardik Pandya, which brought about panic buttons being switched on very early in the game , whilst stand-in opener Imman Ul Haq ran himself out for Pakistan to be reduced to 52 for 2 wickets at the end of the power play overs, which is way below
The loss of Babar Azam, who looked composed on 23, with Pakistan on 41, opened the gates for an Indian intervention.
He nicked a fourth stump out swinger to K.L Rahul off Hardik Pandya which brought about panic buttons being switched on very early in the game whilst stand-in opener Imman Ul Haq ran himself out for Pakistan to be reduced to 52 for 2 wickets at the end of the power play overs, which is way below par against an Indian batting line up.
Skipper Mod Rizwan, together with left left hander Saud Shakeel, built a 103 run partnership very cautiously for the 3rd wicket, and it was a pleasure to see a subdue Pakistani fans wave their green flags as the recovery was on the horizon.
What made Mohd Rizwan lose his concentration off an Axer Patel arm delivery was an appalling approach.
Waltzing down the pitch, all he heard was the sound of timber with his footwork, letting him down to be dismissed for 46 with Pakistan on 150, which made the shell shock Pakistani fans hang their heads and hold their heads in disbelief.
One breakthrough, they say, brings in even two or even three if luck is not in your favour.
This was the Pakistani story. Saud Shakeel at the wickets on 68 instead of taking responsibility stroked a Hardik Pandya back of a length delivery to the waiting hands Axer Patel at Square leg, after which the mini parade of Tayab batting at number 5 ahead of Agar Salman was castled by Ravindra Jadeja for 4 runs and Pakistan were back in the shell with the score on 5 wickets for 165 runs.
The scorecard at the end of the 40th over before the 3rd power play gave early indications that Pakistan had lost the plot with the score on 183 for 5 wickets with the last recognised batters Salman Aghar and Khusdil Shah to face the final 10 overs with the challenge of Kuldeep Yadev and his left arm wrist spin as the main stumbling block from a Pakistani perspective.
To challenge the strong Indian batting lineup, a score of 270 is a prerequisite.
Pakistan, due to the Kuldeep Yadev threat, were mediocre and was bowled out for 241 inside 50 overs.
Salman Aghar made 19, hard-hitting kushdil Shah made 38 , the tail similar to Sri Lanka never wags sadly for Pakistan in white ball cricket hence this does no favour especially when you play against the World class side like India.
Kuldeep 3 for 40, Pandya 2 31, Axer Patel 1 for 49 with fellow spinner Jadeja 1 for 40 gave impetus to the Indian bowling, whilst Harshit Rana took 1 for 30 to restrict Pakistan to a below par score.
For India, it was a walk in the park chasing 242 in 50 overs. Pakistani seamers helped by bowling to both sides of the wickets and the tournament favourites got to the target in 42.3 overs.
Rohit Sharma nursing a hamstring injury made 20, Shubman Gill 46, Sheyes Ayar 56 and Virat Kholi an unbeaten 100 as the Pakistani bowling was pretty mediocre.
The feature of the Indian batting revolved around 2 good partnerships between Shubman Gill and Virat Kholi for the 2nd wicket and the exquisite partnership of centurian Virat Kholi and Sheyes Ayer 114 for the 3rd wicket.
From the get-go in the run chase for India had no threats as the Pakistan seam and spin lacked venom.
Afridi 2 for 74, Abbar Ahmed 1 for 28, Khusdil Shah 1 for 43 got among the wickets. Whilst Harris Rauf went wicketless for 52 and Naseem Shah for 37.
Today, Bangladesh plays New Zealand in another Group A game in Pakistan.
India 244 for 4 (Kohli 100*, Iyer 56, Afridi 2-74) beat Pakistan 241 all out (Shakeel 62, Kuldeep 3-40, Hardik 2-31) by six wickets
