India, on Saturday, defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their 2023 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup round robin clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This is the men in blue’s third victory in as many matches in the ongoing World Cup.
Having skittled out Pakistan for a mere 191, captain Rohit Sharma led the charge with an attacking 86 off just 63 deliveries in the chase. He found able support in Shreyas Iyer, who remained unbeaten on 53.
Earlier in the day, all five Indian bowlers – Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja, picked up two wickets apiece as Pakistan collapsed from 155 for 3 to 191 all out. They, in fact, lost their final eight wickets for just 36 runs.
Pakistan were off to a good start before Siraj trapped Abdullah Shafique – the centurion from last match, in front of the wicket. Southpaw Imam-ul-Haq followed soon after as he was caught behind off Pandya to leave Pakistan 73/2.
From there on, Babar Azam (50) and Mohammed Rizwan (49) stitched together an 82-run stand in just over 17 overs before Siraj returned to clean up the former against the run of play in the 30th over of the innings.
Azam’s wicket completely switched the momentum in India’s favour as Kuldeep Yadav struck twice three overs later to have Pakistan reeling at 166/5.
Bumrah then accounted for a well-set Rizwan before removing Shadab Khan with two stunning slower deliveries. Pandya returned to send back the last recognised batter Mohammed Nawaz before Jadeja cleaned up the tail.
Out to chase a modest score, India got off to a brisk start as Sharma and Shubman Gill, who returned to the side after missing the first two matches, smashed ten runs off the very first over bowled by Shaheen Afridi.
Though Gill fell to Afridi soon after and Virat Kohli mistimed a pull to mid-on off Hasan Ali after being set, Sharma added 77 runs with Iyer to take India closer to victory.
When Sharma fell to Afridi in the 22nd over, India needed just 36 more to win. KL Rahul (19*) and Iyer knocked the ball around in gaps for a bit before the latter finished the job with a boundary down the ground off Nawaz.
Read: As India gears up to face arch-rivals Pakistan, here’s all you need to know
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