Asia Cup 2018: Five unnoticed things from the India-Pakistan match
India once again decimated Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2018 to cruise to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over their neighbours in the second round of the Super Four stage. Batting first at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Pakistan managed to put up only 237/7 from their 50 overs. India riding on the centuries from their openers achieved the target with 63 balls remaining.
After the failure of top-order, Pakistan’s experienced duo of the captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik stitched a 109-run partnership together for the fourth wicket. Despite Asif Ali’s best attempts in the death overs, India’s accurate pace bowling limited Pakistan’s first innings score to 237.
The Indian opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma was in absolute control of the chase from the beginning and was never in any sort of trouble. Pakistan did drop a catch of Rohit Sharma which added to their misery as the hitman remained unbeaten till the end with a score of 111. Dhawan was run out after a marvellous knock of 114 from 110 balls which ended India’s opening partnership at 210 runs.
Ambati Rayudu knocked off the winning runs. Although this was a high-profile match, a few things might have gone unnoticed. Here are five things which you may have missed from today's India-Pakistan match:
#5 Failure of Pakistan’s Top order
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat today. Opener Imam-ul-Haq got out lbw for 10, his partner Fakhar Zaman scored a sedate 31 while number Babar Azam was out for nine as Pakistan found themselves in trouble at 58/3.
The very situation is not a frequent phenomenon for Pakistan. Their top three batsmen have been in incredible form leading to the Asia Cup and the only other top order to average better than that of Pakistan’s is India’s top order.
In the last 12 months, Fakhar Zaman (868 runs at an average of 62), Imam-ul-Haq (686 runs at an average of 62.36) and Babar Azam (673 runs at an average of 51.76) have been the leading run-getters for Pakistan. Their failure today hurt the nation severely.