T20 World Cup 2021: IND vs PAK Review – Clinical Pakistan end India’s winning streak

Pakistan finally managed to get a win over India at the World Cups. It was a complete performance by Pakistan’s team and back home, they would hope this is the beginning of an era under Babar Azam. A clinical performance saw Pakistan seal a huge 10-wicket win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The day started with Babar winning the toss and elected to field first. India had a terrible start losing Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the first three overs, both to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s inswingers. Suryakumar Yadav made 11 runs from eight balls but Hasan Ali managed to get him out to make it 31 for 3 inside the powerplay.

Virat Kohli kept things moving on well with Rishabh Pant playing the role of the aggressor. Pant fell to Shadab Khan after 39 runs from 30 balls. Ravindra Jadeja, promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya, could only make run-a-ball 13. Kohli scored 57 runs from 49 balls, but Afridi’s late spell managed to get him out. Hardik Pandya scored 11 runs from 8 balls. India ended on 151 for 7.

Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan picked up one wicket each while Hasan Ali got a couple of wickets as well. With the bat, Pakistan was just as clinical as they could have been. India didn’t manage to get wickets at all, which just played into the hands of Pakistan. It was a brilliant batting display by Babar Azam who made 68 runs from 52 balls while Mohammad Rizwan was unbeaten with him for 79 runs from 55 balls. They managed to get the chase done with 13 balls to spare.

Top performers:

Shaheen Shah Afridi: Pakistan often have failed to start off the match against India on a positive note, but today they had Afridi deliver a superb spell in the powerplay. He dismissed Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in his first two overs and later dismissed Virat Kohli to make sure that India didn’t get the late finish that they were looking for.

Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam:

It is difficult to separate these two and make a point. This day will be remembered for their batting together. Once India set 152, it was about just making sure they didn’t lose their wickets early. The two have been quite magnificent with the bat since they started opening the batting and today, they did exactly what they are known to do. The pair’s efforts would be remembered for a very long time.

Personal achievement/records:

• The stand between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan is the highest ever partnership for any team against India in T20Is.
• The only team against which Babar Azam played and not scored 50+ is now Sri Lanka.

Way ahead:

Pakistan will now face New Zealand on October 26 while India will take on New Zealand on October 31.