India vs Pakistan begun amid high precipitations of rain. Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first. As skies were grey, Babar Azam decided to take advantage of the conditions early on. But this decision was to cost Pakistan dearly over the next 2 days. Lets delve into the details of the match below.
India vs Pakistan – Super 4s – 10-11 September – Asia Cup 2023
India Innings – India vs Pakistan – Super 4s – 10th September – Asia Cup 2023
Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill came out to the middle to start off the Indian innings. Shaheen Shah Afridi was opening the bowling for Pakistan in this all-important contest of India vs Pakistan. Indian openers showed their intent when Rohit Sharma smoked Shaheen for a six on the last ball of the first over of the match. Both openers continued their onslaught.
Shaheen was attacking in his first spell as always, which also carries the risk of being expensive. He went for 3 boundaries in the over twice and the batsman was Shubman Gill on both the occasions. Naseem tried to keep things under control as was evident but runs continued to leak from the other end. Pakistan fielding was below par as they missed 2 chances. Faheem was brought into the attack as Indians continued with their onslaught. Naseem bowled 5 overs in his first spell and gave away 23 runs, remaining unlucky as 2 catches were missed/dropped off his bowling.
Also Read : History of Asia Cup
India scored 61-0 in 10 overs of powerplay. Haris was brought on in the 11th over. In 12th over, came Shadab to the attack, who was taken the cleaners by Rohit Sharma, taking 19 of his first over. Haris continued and tried to keep it tight. But in the next over, Shadab was again taken for 12 runs by Rohit Sharma. At this point, Shadab gave away 31 runs in his 2 overs, making it difficult for the captain to continue with him. Haris bowled decently in the next over giving away only 3 runs. At this stage, India were 118-0 in 16 overs.
After the drinks break, Babar backed Shadab and brought him again to bowl. Shadab didn’t disappoint his captain and took the wicket of Rohit, taking his revenge. Rohit was caught by Faheem Ashraf at long off, who completed a beautiful running catch. Rohit departed for 56 off 49. In came Virat Kohli at no.3. Babar decided to bring back Shaheen who gave 31 runs in his first 3 overs. And boy he didn’t disappoint his captain either as he dismissed the well set Shubman Gill (58 off 52) with a leg cutter. Gill went for the drive but was caught at covers by Agha Salman. India were now 123-2 in 17.5 overs.
KL Rahul came at no.4, playing his first match of Asia Cup 2023 and that too in the all-important India vs Pakistan clash. Runs dried up for India as Pakistani bowlers made a comeback, as they started putting pressure on Indian batters. Shadab Khan gave only 15 runs in his next 4 overs, doing some good damage control. Indian batters added 24 runs for the 3rd wicket stand in the next 7 overs.
Soon, rain decided to disrupt the party and made an entry with a storm. Players rushed out of the ground. Sri Lankan ground staff came out to cover the ground, helped by Fakhar Zaman, who may did not wanted the pitch to get any rain. India were 147-2 in 24.1 overs.
Rain affected the entire day as the play couldn’t be resumed after the delay. Rain did stop for a while in the evening but play couldn’t resume due to wet outfield. Ground staff tried their best to dry the ground but rain started pouring again. As time ran out, officials decided to activate the reserve day. So, as it stands, India were 147-2 in 24.1 overs at stumps.
Reserve Day – India Innings – India vs Pakistan – Super 4s – 11th Sep – Asia Cup 2023
After a delayed start on reserve day, India resumed their innings from last day’s score of 147-2 in 24.1 overs. Virat Kohli (8 off 16) and KL Rahul (17 off 28) resumed the dominance of Indian batting in the match from where they left off. But Pakistan had to start the day with some bad news for their bowlers as Haris Rauf was injured and as a precaution, keeping World Cup in mind, Haris wasn’t to bowl in the match. He bowled 5 overs giving just 27 runs. It meant a part timer had to bowl his remaining 5 overs.
After surviving a few swinging deliveries from Naseem Shah, both batsmen scored runs easily. Soon, both batsmen completed their 50 runs partnership for the 3rd wicket in 70 balls. Runs continued for India in the innings as Pakistan fielded below par at this moment in the Indian innings.
India completed its 200 runs in 32.5 overs. KL Rahul completed his half century on his comeback in 60 balls. Virat and Rahul changed gears and soon completed their 100 runs partnership off 101 balls. Virat completed his half century in 55 balls, just after India got to 250 -2 in 39.3 overs. At this stage, both Kohli and Rahul accelerated their innings and started scoring runs with a rapid rate.
With Haris out of the bowling line up, Pakistan were in trouble as Iftikhar Ahmad was smoked for easy runs by both batsmen. Rahul at this stage was in total control of the situation. He got a life when Shadab missed a chance, though extremely difficult, but he just got his fingers to it at point off Shaheen’s bowling. Both batters completed their 150 runs partnership in 24.4 overs at this stage.
Pakistan kept giving away easy runs which eventually build pressure on them. Pakistani fielding was very poor as there was no effort from them, conceding boundaries at regular intervals. India soon completed its 300 runs in 45 overs. With 8 wickets in hand, India had no problems in sight to score big.
KL Rahul celebrated his comeback by completing his 6th century in ODIs off 100 balls in this all-important contest of India vs Pakistan. It was his first ODI hundred against Pakistan. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli completed his 13000 runs in ODIs, becoming the fastest batsman to do so and soon, Kohli completed his 47th ODI century off just 84 balls. It was Virat’s 3rd ODI century against Pakistan. Runs were flowing for India as Virat and Rahul completed their 200 runs partnership for 3rd wicket in 179 deliveries (29.5 overs). Both batters smashed the bowlers into all parts of the ground, helped by Pakistan’s poor fielding.
In 49th over, Indian partnership reached 216*, which is their highest partnership in Asia Cup tournament for any wicket. Pakistan’s day just couldn’t get better as Naseem got injured in his last over after bowling 2 deliveries, who was the only bowler for Pakistan who had the economy rate of under 6. Iftikhar came to complete the 49th over for Pakistan.
For the last over, Faheem Ashraf came to bowl, who after giving away only 3 runs off the first 4 balls, gave away 15 runs off the last 2 deliveries. He was hit for a boundary by Kohli which was a no ball. Faheem was hit for 4 and a beautiful six off the next deliveries, ending a miserable day for Pakistani bowlers.
India finished their batting with 356-2 in 50 overs. Kohli topped the batting charts with a classy 122 off just 94 runs, followed by KL Rahul with 111 off 106. Rohit and Shubman scored 56 off 49 and 58 off 52 respectively. It was India’s highest total in ODIs against Pakistan.
For Pakistan, it was a forgetful day as except Naseem Shah, no bowler’s economy rate was under 6. Shaheen and Shadab took 1 wicket each, finishing off with figures of 1-79 and 1-71 respectively. Pakistani bowlers couldn’t take a single wicket today.
Pakistan Innings – India vs Pakistan – Super 4s – 11th Sep – Asia Cup 2023
In response to Indian target in this all-important India vs Pakistan match, Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq came in the middle to open the innings for Pakistan. Jasprit Bumrah was to open the bowling for India, who was to bowl for the first time after a comeback as he didn’t get a chance in the previous washed-out match of India vs Pakistan.
Bumrah was right on the money in his spell as he swinged and seamed the ball both ways. Siraj also bowled well in his spell. Bumrah’s brilliant bowling paid off as he dismissed Imam for just 9 runs off 18 balls. Imam was caught at slip by Shubman Gill. Pakistan were now 17-1 in 4.2 overs. In came the no.1 ODI batsman in the world, Babar Azam, on whom, Pakistani team relied heavily in the given circumstance. Both Fakhar and Babar had trouble in the beginning as Bumrah and Siraj bowled beautifully.
Babar got off the mark with a beautiful backfoot cover drive off Bumrah. Both batsmen tried to get through this spell, scoring around 4 an over. At the end of powerplay, Pakistan were 43-1 in 10 overs. Hardik Pandiya came to the attack and he delivered on the 4th ball of his first over as he clean bowled the big fish, Babar Azam with a Jaffa as the bowl came in, getting past the gap between bat and pad. Pakistan were now 43-2 in 10.4 overs. Mohammad Rizwan came in the middle to join Fakhar. He survived a lbw/caught behind review on the first ball he faced.
Soon, rain came into play and players went off the ground. Pakistan were now 44-2 in 11 overs. Play was stopped for an hour as it drizzled heavily for a while. After more than an hour, play was resumed with full overs in play.
Delay in the play didn’t bring any change of luck for Pakistan as Rizwan was dismissed in the very first over after rain by Shardul Thakur. Rizwan was caught behind by KL Rahul after scoring 2 off 4. Pakistan were now 47-3 in 11.4 overs. Salman Agha was the new man to join Fakhar Zaman in the middle. Both ensured no wicket fell but at the cost of a slow run rate. Fakhar tried to accelerate the innings but was clean bowled by Kuldeep Yadav. Fakhar departed for 27 off 50 balls. Pakistan were now 77-4 in 19.2 overs. Iftikhar Ahmad came in at no.6, joining Salman in the middle.
On the last ball of the 21st over, Salman got injured trying to sweep Jadeja. A helmet less Salman got hit on his face just under his right eye as blood drips out of his face. But play continued after Salman was checked for concussion. Just when Salman seemed set at the wicket, he was trapped lbw by Kuldeep. Salman departed after scoring 23 off 32. Pakistan were now 96-5 in 24 overs. Shadab Khan came at no.7 for Pakistan.
Pakistan completed its 100 runs in 24.5 overs, requiring a mammoth 257 runs in the remaining 25.1 overs. Boundaries had dried up for Pakistan at this stage. Kuldeep was on top of his game as no Pakistani batter could play him convincingly at this stage of the match. Not long after, Shadab (6 off 10) was the next man to depart as he was caught at long on by Thakur off the bowling of Kuldeep, who took his 3rd wicket of the match. Pakistan were now 110-6 in 27.4 with required run rate climbing high. Faheem Ashraf was the new man in the middle.
Iftikhar was the next man to depart after gifting his wicket by hitting the ball straight to Kuldeep. Iftikhar departed after scoring 23 off 35. Kuldeep took his 4th wicket of the match. Pakistan were now 119-7 in 29.3 overs. Shaheen Afridi was the new batsman in at no.9. who finally hit the first 6 of the Pakistani innings off Kuldeep Yadav bowling. But Kuldeep finished off the match on the last ball of the over as he clean bowled Faheem (4 of 12), getting his 5th wicket of the match. As Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were absent due to injury, Pakistan were all out for 128 in 32 overs, winning with a mammoth 228 runs margin.
It was India’s highest margin of win by runs in ODIs against Pakistan.
Fakhar Zaman (27 off 50) was the top scorer for Pakistan, followed by Agha Salman (23 off 32) and Iftikhar Ahmed (23 off 35). For India, Kuldeep topped the bowling charts with his 5-25, followed by Bumrah, Hardik and Thakur with a wicket each.
Virat Kohli was declared man of the match for his outstanding 122 off 94.
Conclusion – India vs Pakistan – Super 4s – 10-11 September – Asia Cup 2023
India dominated in every aspect of the game as they won by a huge margin of 228 runs. Plenty of positives for India as all batters scored runs. But it was the return of Bumrah which will boost Indian bowling line up morale as he seems right on top of his game. Kuldeep bowled splendidly for his fifer. India will be facing Sri Lanka tomorrow on 12th September at the same very stadium.
For Pakistan, it has been a difficult 2 days as they were never in the game. Pakistan were miserable in all departments. The margin of defeat may be a big worry as it can hamper Pakistan’s chances for the Final of Asia Cup 2023. But it may prove to be a good reality check as its after a long time, that Pakistan has been treated by any team in this manner.
After this defeat by a huge margin, Pakistan will be hoping that India wins tomorrow against Sri Lanka as Pakistan’s net run rate is now -1.892 whereas Sri Lanka’s net run rate now is 0.420. Pakistan will play Sri Lanka on 14th September which maybe a virtual knock out for both teams in order to qualify for the final of Asia Cup 2023.
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