NEW YORK - India defeated Pakistan by six runs in their second match of the T20 World Cup 2024 which is being played at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday.
Despite a positive start as Pakistan had not lost a wicket in the first over, the Green Shirts could not capitalise on the advantage as skipper Babar Azam became Jasprit Bumrah’s victim after scoring 13 runs. Usman Khan came in after the skipper’s dismissal and he managed to support Mohammad Rizwan but the right-handed batter lost his wicket to Axar Patel.
Pakistan needed a partnership in the middle overs but none of their batters could provide that as Fakhar Zaman (13 off 8), Shadab Khan (4 off 7) and Imad Wasim (15 off 23) all left for the pavilion without scoring big. However, the turning of the match was when Bumrah bowled Rizwan for 31 runs.
The wicketkeeper batter was in a strong position and looked like the man to guide the Green Shirts to the victory, but Bumrah denied that. Pakistan finished their innings at 113-7 in 20 overs. For India, Bumrah bagged three wickets, Hardik Pandya got two while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel got one each.
Earlier in the first innings, the Pakistani bowlers dominated the Indian batters completely and didn’t give them much room to shine in one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament.
Pakistan started the match brilliantly as Naseem Shah managed to remove Virat Kohli in his first over for just four runs. The Green Shirts didn’t stop as just in the next over, Shaheen Afridi got the wicket of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. Axar Patel came in to bat at number four over Suryakumar Yadav to avoid a collapse. However, he too was removed by Naseem in the eighth over.
India looked in good touch with Rishabh Pant and Yadav combining but the latter was removed by Haris Rauf and that was the wicket that started the Indian collapse. Soon after Suryakumar’s wicket, India lost wickets in quick succession as Amir removed Pant (42 off 31) and Ravindra Jadeja on two balls in the 15th over.
Rauf did the remaining damage and the entire Indian team was soon all out for just 119 runs in 19 overs. For Pakistan, Naseem and Haris starred with the ball taking three wickets each. Amir got two while Shaheen Afridi picked one.
In his post-match talk, player of the match Jasprit Bumrah said: “It feels really good. We felt we were a little under par, and when the sun came out, the wicket got a little better, so we had to be really disciplined. I tried to keep it simple, tried to hit the seam as much as I can, focus on my execution. It felt like we were in India, and the cheering is really appreciated, we were really happy with the support we got, it gave us a lot of energy. Focus on the now. We’ve played two games, played very good cricket. We’ll stick to our processes, and come out and try our best.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said: “I think they bowled well after 10 overs. We were chasing 120, we were run a ball for the first 10 overs, but back-to-back wickets and then [we left too much in the end]. Tactics were simple, play normally, rotate strike, 5-6 an over. But in that period, we had too many dot balls, the pressure was on us, and we lost three quick wickets. Can’t expect too much from tailenders. We were not up to the mark in the first six overs, we had targeted 40-45 runs, we have not capitalised properly. Pitch looked decent, ball coming nicely. Little bit slow, some balls are bouncing a bit more, but you expect it with a drop-in pitch.”
Scores in Brief
INDIA 119 (Rishabh Pant 42, Axar Patel 20; Naseem Shah 3-21, Haris Rauf 3-21) beat PAKISTAN 113-7 (Mohammad Rizwan 31, Imad Wasim 15; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, Hardik Pandya 2-24) by 6 runs.
Scores in Brief
WEST INDIES 173-5 (Charles 44, Russell 30*, Masaba 2-31) beat UGANDA 39 (Miyagi 13*, Hosein 5-11, Joseph 2-6) by 134 runs.
Scores in Brief
SCOTLAND 153-3 (Pratik Athavale 54, Ayaan Khan 40*; Safyaan Sharif 2-40) beat Oman 150-7 (Brandon McMullen 61*, George Munsey 41; Bilal Khan 1-12, Mehran Khan 1-16) by 7 wickets.
