On this day in 2014: India beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2014 encounter
Two of the game’s biggest arch-rivals collided against each other on 21st March 2014 in the biggest stage of the T20I format. India and Pakistan clashed in a league stage match of the 2014 T20 World Cup in Dhaka.
The exhilaration and excitement from the fans shot through the roof, as this encounter between the two sides was easily the most anticipated match of the tournament. MS Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first. The Pakistan side lost wickets at regular intervals, and none of their willow wielders could kick on and get a big score.
In fact, even though three Pakistan batsmen crossed the 20-run mark, not even one of them could score a half-century. And, the highest run-scorer for the Pakistan side was Umar Akmal, who scored a 30-ball 33. For India, Amit Mishra scalped 2 wickets, giving away 22 runs from his 4 overs, while the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja scalped a wicket each as Pakistan could only muster a total of 130/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
The Indian batsmen did not hurry and played in a sedate fashion, as they could afford to do so. The target was not a massive one, and the Indian willow wielders took their time in the middle. The duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan provided an excellent start for the ‘Men in Blue’. The two batsmen put on a partnership of 54 runs off 8 overs to set the platform for the other batsmen to follow. India’s batting talisman Virat Kohli top-scored for his side with an unbeaten 36* and India won the match with 7 wickets and 9 balls to spare.
For Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul and Bilawal Bhatti scalped a wicket apiece. Amit Mishra won the Man of the Match award for his excellent performance with the ball. For the record, India and Pakistan have faced each other 5 times in the ICC World T20. And, the Indian side has managed to come out on top in each and every World Cup encounter between the two arch-rivals.
