Pakistan on Sunday created history by inflicting a humiliating defeat on Team India in their opening match of the ongoing T20 World Cup, being held in UAE. Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets with 13 balls to spare.
Batting first, India set 151-7 in 20 overs with skipper Virat Kohli leading from the front to score 57 in 49 balls. Kohli’s knock along with Rishabh Pant’s quickfire 39 helped India recover their innings after the early batting collapse. Shaheen Afridi, who finished with an impressive spell of 3-31 in four overs, was instrumental in dismissing two top Indian batsmen namely Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul when India’s total was 6 in 2.1 overs. Afridi also went on to dismiss Kohli just when he was beginning to look dangerous.
Hasan Ali took two wickets, while Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf shared one wicket each. Shadab Khan produced an impressive spin attack, conceding just 22 runs in his quota of four overs.
Today’s result assumes significance given that Pakistan had never defeated India in a World Cup match. The last time they played each other in a World Cup match was in 2019 when India comprehensively outclassed their arch-rivals.
Pakistan began their run chase on an aggressive note with openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam adding 71 runs in 10 overs for the first wicket. The score became 99-0 in 12.4 overs when Babar Azam completed his half-century with a six off the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy. The two batsmen completed the 100-run partnership in 12.5 overs.
In the end, both batsmen guided Pakistan to a comfortable win against India. Mohammad Rizwan remained not out at 79 that he needed just 55 balls to score. As for Azam, he was unbeaten at 68 in 52 balls.
Shaheen Afridi was declared Man Of The Match for his devastating bowling, He thanked his parents and fans from Pakistan for beating India for the first time in World Cup.
Kohli said after the match, “I think Pakistan certainly outplayed us today.” His Pakistani counterpart, Babar Azam, simply said that this victory would boost his players’ confidence in the competition.
In another match of the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by five wickets. Bangladesh had made 171-4 in 20 overs. But Sri Lanka achieved the target in 18.5 overs by losing just five wickets.
