World Cup 2019: India crush Pakistan by 89 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method 

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Rohit Sharma

India produced another dominating performance to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan by 89 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method at Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday. This was India's third win in the ICC World Cup 2019, and it preserves their unbeaten record in the tournament so far.

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to field first. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got off to a steady start, and at the end of 10 overs the score read 53 for 0.

After the power play overs, Rohit took charge with some attacking stroke-play to reach his fifty off 34 balls while Rahul gave him full support. It was an amazing display by the Indian openers who made batting look easy.

Rahul also reached his fifty, off 69 balls, before Wahab Riaz dismissed him for 57. He and Rohit had added 136 runs in 23.5 overs.

Coming in at number 3, Indian captain Virat Kohli took a few balls to settle. On the other hand, Rohit continued playing with positive intent and reached his century off 95 balls.

After completing his century, Rohit pushed up the scoring rate. But Hassan Ali dismissed him for a brilliant 140 off 113 balls, after he and Kohli had added 98 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Hardik Pandya coming in at number 4 showed his class with the bat scoring a quickfire 26 off 19 balls. Kohli reached his fifty off 51 balls, while MS Dhoni scored just 1 run.

When the scorecard read 305 for 4 in 46.4 overs, the rain arrived. After the rain break, Kohli was dismissed for 77. Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav then added a few vital runs to help India post a massive total of 336 for 5 in 50 overs.

Chasing the target of 337, the Pakistani openers were greeted with some tight overs by Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvneshwar injured his hamstring during his spell though, which forced him out of the match.

Vijay Shankar replaced him and immediately got a wicket, dismissing Imam-Ul-Haq. Babar Azam then came to the crease and played with caution.

At the end of 10 overs, Pakistan were 38 for 1. After the power play, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam started building a useful partnership. The explosive Fakhar reached his fifty off 59 balls, while Babar cruised along comfortably too.

Just as things had started looking dangerous for India, Kuldeep Yadav struck by dismissing Babar for 48. He and Fakhar had added 104 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Kuldeep made another breakthrough by getting the wicket of Fakhar to put pressure on the Pakistani batting line up. Hardik Pandya then got the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in quick succession to leave Pakistan in big trouble.

Shankar got the wicket of Sarfaraz Ahmed before the rain arrived again at the score of 166 for 6. With a revised 136 runs needed off 30 balls, it was curtains for Pakistan as they scored 212 for 6 in 40 overs.

Imad Wasim remained not out on 46 and Shadab Khan on 20. India won the match by 89 runs via the DLS method.

Brief scores: India 336 for 5 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 140, Virat Kohli 77, Mohammad Aamir 3/47) beat Pakistan 212 for 6 in 40 overs (Fakhar Zaman 62, Babar Azam 48, Kuldeep Yadav 2/32, Vijay Shankar 2/22) by 89 runs via DLS method.

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