Captain Babar Azam led by example as Pakistan beat India in a World Cup showdown for the first time ever with a 10-wicket romp in a Super 12 blockbuster at the Twenty20 World Cup in Dubai.
Shaheen Afridi
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Virat Kohli played a captain’s knock of 57 to rescue India from a top-order wobble and help them post a competitive 151-7 in a rematch of the inaugural 2007 final.
His counterpart Babar combined with Mohammad Rizwan to get Pakistan off to a flying start and then overwhelmed the target with 13 balls to spare to snap India’s 100% win record against them in limited-overs World Cups.
Babar remained not out on 68, while Rizwan made an unbeaten 79.
Wary of the dew factor, captains have preferred to field and Babar too followed that trend after winning the toss.
Pakistan did not have to wait long for a breakthrough as Shaheen Afridi (3-31) struck twice in his first seven deliveries to rattle India.
The left-arm pacer fired in a searing yorker-length delivery to dismiss Rohit Sharma lbw for a golden duck and, in his next over, rifled one through KL Rahul’s gate to rearrange the stumps.
Suryakumar Yadav hit Afridi for a six but Rizwan took a diving catch behind the stumps to dismiss the batsman and reduce India to 31-3 in the sixth over.
Kohli and Rishabh Pant calmed nerves in the Indian camp and guided the team to 60-3 at the halfway stage of the innings.
Pant then decided to counter-attack and hit Hasan Ali for back-to-back sixes but his ultra-aggression ultimately did him in.
Shadab Khan foxed Pant with a googly to induce a skier which the spinner caught himself to dismiss the batsman for 39.
Kohli fell in the penultimate over of the innings trying to accelerate but India still made the 150-mark.
Pakistan, in their reply, not only kept their wickets intact in the powerplay overs but also scored briskly with Babar and Rizwan effectively killing off the contest with their rock-solid stand.
Babar brought up his fifty in style, hitting spinner Varun Chakravarthy for a six, while Rizwan reached his own fifty with a pulled boundary off Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan next play New Zealand on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile in the other group, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa shared a partnership of 86 to give Sri Lanka a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in their opening match.
Asalanka remained unbeaten on 80 from 49 balls – his first T20 international half century – and Rajapaksa, celebrating his 30th birthday, hit a 31-ball 53 to help Sri Lanka chase down a 172-run target with seven balls to spare.
Put in to bat, Bangladesh posted 171 for four after opening batsman Mohammad Naim anchored the innings with a 52-ball 62 and the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim smashed an unbeaten 57 off 37 balls.
Bangladesh play England in their next match on Wednesday, a day before Sri Lanka take on Australia.
-Reuters
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