CWC 2019: IND vs PAK Review – And the streak continues…

India kept its streak against Pakistan intact as they beat them by 89 runs in their blockbuster Group game in the 2019 World Cup, held in Manchester. Amidst rumours of a possible washout due to rains, the match started on time and Sarfaraz Ahmed had no qualms to send India out batting after winning the toss.

In the end, the quality which India had in their ranks was too much for Pakistan to handle, as they collapsed to a big loss. With the win, India cemented their place in the top 4 of the table with 7 points in 4 games, sitting third on the table. Pakistan, on the other hand, languish at the second-last position in the table, with 3 points in 5 games.

Rohit’s form continues

Mohammad Amir continued his rich vein of form as he kept throbbing the off stump line against the openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. The former in particular, took his time to pace out his innings while Rohit Sharma took over Shikhar Dhawan’s role and kept attacking at will. A flourishing 140 came to an end in an anti-climax as he was caught off a mistimed scoop.

Virat and Rahul’s crucial contributions  

While Rohit Sharma held one end intact, KL Rahul stepped up the plate to initiate power in India’s score. Like Lokesh, Virat Kohli too, took his time to get his eye in but once he got the hang of the pitch and settled down, he unleashed his array of stroke-making. By the time Virat departed, he had caused enough damage.

Crucial partnership between Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman

Chasing a 300-plus score in ODIs obviously means the openers of the team need to give a flying start but Pakistan decided to take the defensive route. Upon Imam-ul-Haq’s dismissal, Babar and Fakhar got their heads together and kept Pakistan in the search for victory. Once Fakhar started smashing the bowlers after settling down, Babar Azam’s timely dismissal proved costly for Pakistan. They could not keep any partnership going after this and that led to the downfall of the difficult chase.

India ramp up the pressure to choke Pakistan

Once the partnership was broken, the Indian bowlers came into their own to restrict the Pakistan innings. Pakistan could neither keep up with the run-rate, nor could keep the wickets in hand to ever pose a serious threat to India. Rain again became a factor as Pakistan required a big target in a curtailed match. At this moment it remained all but a formality that India would extend their winning streak against their rivals at the World Cup. By the time it was done and dusted, Pakistan could only manage to put up a score of 212/6 on the board, losing the match by 89 runs by DLS method.