Asia Cup 2018: Clinical India cruise to an 8 wicket win over arch rivals Pakistan
India produced a dominating performance beating arch rivals Pakistan played in the last group A match played at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. It was a great show by the Indian bowlers who dismissed Pakistan for a low total and then chased down this target with ease.
Pakistan captain Sarfarz Ahmed won the toss and decided to bat first. India got off to a perfect start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Imam Ul Haq for 2 and dangerous Fakhar Zaman for 0, reducing Pakistan to 3 for 2 in the 5th over. Pakistan scored 25 for 2 in the first 10 overs.
Babar Azam and experienced Shoaib Malik played with positive intent hitting bad balls away for boundaries. Pakistan looked good for a decent total before Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Babar Azam for 47. Both Babar Azam and Malik added 82 runs for the 3rd wicket. The Indian bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals with Kedar Jadhav dismissing Sarfraz Ahmed, Asif Ali and Shadab Khan in quick succession. Mohammad Aamir and Faheem Ashraf added 37 runs for the 8th wicket before Kumar dismissed Faheem Ashraf. India bowled out Pakistan for 162 in 43.1 overs. Shoaib Malik was the top scorer for Pakistan with 47. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav picked 3 wickets each, Bumrah 2, Kuldeep Yadav 1 and one was run out.
Chasing the target of 163 runs to win, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started slowly in the first few overs. Rohit Sharma then took on the Pakistan bowlers with great hitting. Both Rohit and Dhawan raced to 58 runs in the first 10 overs. Rohit reached his fifty off 36 balls. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar added 86 runs in 13.1 overs for the opening wicket before Shadab Khan dismissed Rohit for 52. Shikhar Dhawan continued his form and made 46 before getting out.
Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik put on an unbeaten 62 runs for the third wicket to help Team India win the match by 8 wickets with 126 balls to spare. For Pakistan Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf picked 1 wicket each.
Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh in the last group match tomorrow. India will play the first Super 4 match against Bangladesh on 21st September.