India vs Pakistan Asia Cup T20: Five talking points
It was a bowler's day in Mirpur that was dominated by Virat KohliIf not on the expected lines, the India vs Pakistan game today lived up to its expectations, in a manner that was the least expected.Also read: ICC T20 World Cup Group stage: Kolkata to replace Dharamsala for India-Pakistan matchSomething that has been the tune of the tournament so far-- the ball dominating the bat-- was on display yet again, as the bowlers had an excellent day in the field-- something that has become a rarity of late.But in the end, Mohammed Amir’s resurgent comeback was matched and just bettered by arguably Virat Kohli’s best T20I innings so far, as India beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in a tense low-scoring affair.Some brilliance by Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah early on, mixed with a brilliant fielding performance by the Indians meant that Pakistan were bowled out for their lowest T20I score against India, and their third lowest overall-- 83.But the game was far from over by then, as Amir rattled the Indian top-order by taking three wickets in his first two overs, reducing India to 29/3 by the time he finished his spell.It was then that Kohli perhaps played the innings of his career so far, and combined with Yuvraj Singh to guide India to victory.
#1 The Nehra- Bumrah opening partnership
As abundant as an Indian team with a solid opening batting combination has been, a team with a penetrating bowling attack has been equally rare.
But, over the past five matches, in the shortest format of the game, India’s opening combination of Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah has looked as good as any in the game.
The impressive Nehra-Bumrah duo showed its prowess in the most crucial game of their relatively short partnership today.
The weakness of the Pakistani batting line-up was exposed, as Nehra struck in the first over of the match when he got Mohammed Hafeez caught behind with a delivery that bounced and moved away from the Pakistani batsman.
With this wicket, Nehra now had, at least one wicket during the powerplay overs, in his last 6 T20I matches.
Bumrah followed his senior’s performance with a maiden over up first, and then got Sharjeel Khan caught at slips in his next over to reduce Pakistan to 22/2.
Further tragedy ensued, as after surviving an appeal, courtesy a bad decision by the on-field umpire, Khurram Manzoor got involved in a tangle with Shoaib Malik, lost his bat in the middle of the pitch, so that Virat Kohli, who was furious over the unfortunate decision, could hit the stumps to send the same batsman back.
The run-out kept aside, the powerplay overs that fetched India 3 wickets for 32 runs, were dominated by the aforementioned gentlemen, who made the full use of the greenish pitch that was on offer.