[WATCH] When Hardik Pandya slammed a six to seal victory for India against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022
India and Pakistan will renew their cricketing rivalry when the arch-rivals face off in the Asia Cup 2023 clash at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on September 2.
As always, there is plenty of excitement over the marquee match of the tournament. In some good news for fans from both nations, depending on the result, the neighboring nations can end up facing each other thrice including in the final.
Speaking of the India-Pakistan rivalry in the Asia Cup, the two teams played a couple of close encounters during the 2022 edition which was held in the UAE in the T20I format. On this day, August 28, last year, all-rounder Hardik Pandya slammed a six in the last over to lift the Men in Blue to a famous five-wicket win in match number two of Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai.
Set to chase 148, India got off to a nervous start as Naseem Shah knocked over KL Rahul for 1. Skipper Rohit Sharma also fell for 12 to Mohammad Nawaz. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja contributed 35 each but were also dismissed by Pakistan’s left-arm spinner. Suryakumar Yadav too failed as he was cleaned up by Naseem for a run-a-ball 18.
Pandya (33* off 17), however, kept his cool and lifted India to a famous win. He struck Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf for three fours in the penultimate over. India needed seven off the last over bowled by Nawaz, who brought the equation to six off three balls with some smart bowling.
After the third ball was a dot, Pandya looked towards his partner Dinesh Karthik, and made a gesture, which suggested that he had things under control. He walked the talk and tonked the next ball for a flat six over long-on to crush Pakistan’s resistance.
Nawaz takes sweet revenge in India-Pakistan Super Four clash during Asia Cup 2022
When the Asian giants met again during the Super Four round of Asia Cup 2022, the margin of victory was again five wickets, but this time the result was in favor of Pakistan. The Men in Blue were sent into bat after losing the toss and scored 181/7 as Virat Kohli top-scored with 60 off 44 balls.
Opener Mohammad Rizwan starred in the chase with 71 off 51 balls. However, it was Nawaz’s brilliant counter-attack of 42 in 20 balls that made the big difference. The all-rounder smacked six fours and two sixes as Pakistan got over the line in 19.5 overs.