Pakistan chased 182 to beat India by 5 wickets and a ball to spare in an enthralling game that went to the last over. India dropped the momentum a few times in the match and Pakistan grabbed it with both hands with some inspired batting changes and capitalizing on an easy dropped catch that may very well have cost India the match.
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India started brilliantly with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul laying a great foundation. India was 54 when they lost their first wicket as Rohit fell in the first ball of the sixth over. Virat Kohli played a wonderful hand of 60 in 44 balls as India’s big-hitting middle-order collapsed around him with Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya failing to make an impact. Consecutive fours off misfields by Ravi Bishnoi meant that India got to 181 in 20 overs.
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India started well with the ball as well by dismissing Babar Azam early and Fakar Zaman for an insipid 15 off 18 balls. Mohammad Rizwan kept Pakistan in the hunt but it was the promotion of left-handed Mohammad Nawaz to No. 4 that swung the momentum and hit India like a southpaw’s heavy hook. Nawaz made 42 off 20 balls and added 73 runs in just 41 balls. He was awarded the man of the match for his rollicking effort.
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At the backend of the game, Pakistan needed 34 runs from 18 balls with two new batsmen at the crease. Asif Ali was on zero when he went for a slog sweep off Ravi Bishnoi and the ball looped towards short third where Arshdeep dropped a dolly, perhaps taking it a bit too casually. Asif hit two fours and a six after that to turn the match completely in Pakistan’s favour before he was out to a yorker in the fourth ball of the final over with his team needing two runs off two balls. The 19th over of the match was bowled by the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and he went for 19 runs and in effect gave Arshdeep just 7 runs to defend in the last six balls.