India vs Pakistan Asia Cup Super-4: A super cameo from Mohammad Nawaz (20-ball 42) and a fiery fifty from Mohammad Rizwan (51-ball 71) helped Pakistan secure a crucial five-wicket win over India in the second match of the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 at Dubai International cricket stadium on Sunday. After a hard-fought 273-run stand between Fakhar Zaman and Nawaz, the match was sealed by some lusty blows from Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah. The win will be remembered by Pakistani fans for a long time as the Men in Green defeated India in a T20 game for the first time ever in history of Asia Cup.
Pakistan initially had a slow start to their innings as they could not score much in the powerplay and even lost wicket of skipper Babar Azam early once again. The Indian spinners had a good start but lost total control in the middle phase of the game and gave away too many runs. Bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya had a poor outing, making things worse for India. Even pacers Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked weak while bowling during the death overs.
Earlier, put to bat first after winning the toss the much-criticized top-order of India showcased what they are capable of and jaw-dropping strike rates of 175 (Rohit), 140 (Rahul), and 136 (Kohli) were a testimony to that. India's top-order hammered Pak bowlers for some quick runs in the initial overs. Virat Kohli, the comeback king, scored a brilliant half-century and played brilliant innings of 60 runs, while Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul scored 28 runs each to put up 181 for 7 against Pakistan. However, India's middle order proved to be a failure.
There was a partnership of 54 runs between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in 5.1 overs. Team India scored 62 runs in the powerplay (6 overs) for the loss of 1 wicket. This is India's best score in the powerplay against Pakistan in T20 Internationals.
India vs Pakistan Squads:
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah