Asia Cup 2022 Championship: Pakistan beat India in the second encounter of the Asia Cup by five wickets
2022 has now seen two India-Pakistan thrillers. This time ended in favour of Pakistan as they avenged their previous defeat with a 5-wicket win and one ball to spare
Mohammad Rizwan was the man for Pakistan in the 2nd encounter vs India.An easy catch drop of Asif Ali by Arshdeep Singh followed by an expensive 19 run over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished all the hopes India managed to create after the 15th over, defending the total of 181.
Both teams stood on the same score after 15th over, 135. India had lost five wickets and was already in the back seat without any finisher, while Pakistan was in total momentum, having lost just two wickets. Mohammad Rizwan's 71 off 51 and cameo of Mohammad Nawaz fetching 42 in 20 balls kept Pakistan in a winning position.
"Rizwan and Nawaz's partnership was the turning point,'' said Babar Azam.
But the drama started when Pakistan lost both their set batters in the next two overs, and the crowd was all on their feet as both results looked possible from this point. But the 19th overcame and took away all the challenges there could be.
Defending just seven runs in 6 balls, Arshdeep Singh made it very competitive when two were required off two balls. But he missed one yorker, and that was it.
Winning the toss, Babar Azam invited the Indian team to bat first. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, taking the challenge, gave a flying start, scoring 52 in 5.1 overs. However, both the openers departed in two successive overs leaving India in a fresh state to build a partnership.
"Virat's form is brilliant, there's no doubt about that.", said Rohit Sharma in the post-match presentation.
Virat Kohli held his nerves and scored 60 off 44 balls but couldn't find support from the other end. Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant departed for 13 and 14 runs, whereas Hardik Pandya failed with the bat to be dismissed for a duck. Two misfields in the last two balls, which went to four from the bat of Ravi Bishnoi, took the total to 181/7.
India must have missed their deadly finisher, Dinesh Karthik, today.
The Asia Cup has been like a blessing for all cricket fans, as there is still hope of another India vs Pakistan match in this Asia Cup, probably in the finals.
Sachin Tendulkar wrote on Twitter, "#INDvsPAK games are always a rollercoaster ride.
India posted a competitive courtesy of a good knock by @imVkohli, but @iMRizwanPak and @mnawaz94's partnership was a game-changer for me. All in all, a good contest!"
India will lock horns with Sri Lanka on 6th September, whereas Pakistan will clash with Afghanistan on 7th September.