Dubai: Pakistan won their match against India by 10 wickets in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
Pakistan restricted India to 151 for seven after electing to field in the T20 showpiece’s blockbuster game.
Skipper Babar Azam stroked his way to 68 while his opening partner, Mohammad Rizwan, smashed 79 as the Indian bowlers struggled to contain the two batters.
Earlier, Indian captain Virat Kohli led from the front with a half-century as India recovered from a disastrous start to post a challenging total.
Besides Kohli’s 49-ball 57, Rishabh Pant slammed 39 in 30 deliveries.
India did tighten the screws by not conceding boundaries in the sixth, seventh and eighth overs. But Azam broke the boundary-less spell with a pull over cow corner off Ravindra Jadeja in the ninth over.
From there onwards, Azam and Rizwan played risk-free cricket by rotating the strike and punishing the bad balls by dispatching them to the boundary rope.
It was one-way traffic as India had no answers to clinical batting from Pakistan’s openers, especially with dew coming into the picture. Azam reached his half-century with a gigantic six over deep mid-wicket off Varun Chakravarthy in the 13th over. Two overs later, Rizwan too reached the fifty-mark with a pull through cow corner off Jasprit Bumrah in the 15th over.
Rizwan began the 18th over by hammering Shami for a six over fine leg followed by back-to-back fours through the leg-side. Azam finished off the chase with a brace, ending Pakistan’s hoodoo against India’in men’s T20 World Cups with 13 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Afridi 3/31) vs Pakistan.
Pakistan: 152 for no loss in 17.5 overs (Babar Azam 68 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 79 not out).