India defeated Pakistan in a match for the ages thanks to a Virat Kohli special of 82 not out off 53 balls and some death-overs chaos. In front of a crowd of more than 90,000 spectators at the MCG, the game swayed between the two teams right up until the finale. Mohammad Nawaz’s 16-run last over was the key determinant.
Heading into the final over, Kohli and Hardik Pandya had momentum on their side. In the 19th over, Kohli hit two sixes off Pakistan’s finest bowler, Haris Rauf, bringing the required from 16 to 6.
Mohammad Nawaz, a left-arm spinner, was the only bowler available for Pakistan, and he bowled with a lengthier run-up with Mohammad Rizwan positioned farther from the stumps. Pandya swung hard at the first delivery, but he was eventually caught, thus Kohli was left with the burden of winning that last over. The following two balls brought Kohli and Dinesh Karthik singles and doubles, bringing the needed score to 13 off 3.
Nawaz delivered a waist-high full toss that Kohli smashed over deep midwicket for a six right when one was needed. When the equation was reduced to 6 off 3, Marais Erasmus declared a no-ball, which was followed by a wide. Kohli and Karthik ran three off the following ball, which was still a free-hit, to completely reverse the situation. or so they thought.
Karthik was then stumped by Nawaz, leaving Ashwin to face the final delivery with two runs still required. A ball was sent towards the leg side, and the offie deftly slid out of the way to earn a wide, leaving him to deal with just one off one. One of the most incredible chases at the MCG was completed when Ashwin gently shot over mid-off after Babar Azam brought the field up.
Pakistan had difficult decisions to make. For the remaining Shaheen Afridi, Rauf, and Nawaz, they had one extra apiece. They deployed Afridi for the 18th and kept their best for the penultimate. To help Kohli get his half-century, Afridi pitched the opening ball short to him. Kohli then pulled it away to deep midwicket.
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A few balls later, Afridi went full, and Kohli retreated to hit one over cover for another four. Following that, the left-arm pacer bowled one short on the leg side, which Kohli finely dragged over short to take 17 from the over.
Rauf lived up to his reputation and used every bit of his MCG bowling background in the penultimate over, as he did throughout the entire evening. Only three singles could be made in the opening four balls, so he limited Pandya.
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When it appeared that Rauf might have given Nawaz more than 25 to defend, Kohli changed the momentum. He took advantage of Rauf’s slow bouncer by hitting a beautiful straight six and then flicking a leg side ball over fine leg for another six to seize the initiative.
