Dubai 4th September : This is the second time in the span of a week, an India-Pakistan game was a stalemate.This is the second time in Asia Cup 2022, the outcome of the India-Pakistan match was in the final game.This time, the crucial deliveries by Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz, with Asif Ali chipping in and Asif Ali chipping in, helped Pakistan to finish as the winners and beat India by five wickets in the second Super Four stage match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
After Virat Kohli scored the second time in a row with a fifty in several matches for India to record an impressive 181/7.
Rizwan also scored his half-century in more than one game with the score of 51-ball 71.But the highlight of the game was left-handed Nawaz’s rise to four, who struck 42 off 20 balls which included the six fours as well as two sixes.
With 26 runs required from the two last overs Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali scored 19 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 19th over.Arshdeep Singh, who had dropped Ali in a duck in the previous over before, sped the score to two runs from two balls.
However, Iftikhar Ahmed ended the match in Pakistan’s favor with an extra ball.
Babar Azam and Rizwan began by securing three fours in the first three overs.
Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, playing his first game in Asia Cup, struck in his first over when Azam hit straight to mid-wicket.
Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman didn’t let the pace drop by adding three fours to Hardik’s first over, resulting in 14 runs.
Rizwan then took Arshdeep effortlessly off his wrists with a the back square leg.Pakistan finished the power-play at 44/1.
Post-power-play, India kept things tight by not permitting Zaman to break boundaries with changes in the pace or length.They were successful by a pressured Zaman hit straight and long-on from a slower ball hit by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Nawaz who was elevated to four, began by cutting Chahal over short third man to score four.He then smashed Pandya over long-on to get a much-needed six.While Rizwan took a slog-swept Chahal to score six off mid-wicket.Nawaz also hit this shot off Bishnoi.
Rizwan who was in the 13th position off 14 scored his fifty in 37 balls as Nawaz hit Arshdeep to the ground and hit fours off Pandya through the cover and over the keeper’s head’, keeping Pakistan in the game.
With 63 required from the last six overs Nawaz capitalized on Chahal’s loose deliveries by putting fours in the leg-side area, and then Rizwan cut through the backward point to pick the fourth four in an over that was 16-runs long.
Bhuvneshwar ended the stand of 73 runs with 41 balls in the 16th over when he made the dangerous Nawaz make a comfortable catch to a long-off off an off-cutter.Pandya’s plan to bowl outside off was successful when Rizwan put an earlier ball straight to the long-off.
Ali was able to get a tight catch by a calls of Bishnoi in the 18th over.He was granted a break on the next ball when Arshdeep fell a sitter to the short third man.With the score at 26 balls from 12, Ali went deep in the crease and struck Bhuvneshwar over the long-on to score six.
Shah was able to get a top edge on the pull to score four, while Ali put his loft in the fielders in the long-off and extra covers as 19 runs were scored from the over.With India penalized for a slow over rate with one fielder extra in the 30 yard circle Ali struck Arshdeep for four runs down the ground.
The left-arm pacer reacted by securing Ali lbw with a pin-point yorker the middle stump.
Ahmed was able to score the brace of runs by slamming into the field to end an impressive chase in Pakistan.
Brief scores: India 181/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 60, Rohit Sharma 28; Shadab Khan 2/31, Mohammad Nawaz 1/25) lost to Pakistan 182/5 in 19.5 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 71, Mohammad Nawaz 42; Ravi Bishnoi 1/26, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/40) by five wickets
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