India:151 for 7 (20.0 overs)
Kohli 57, Pant 39
Afridi (4-0-31-3), Ali (4-0-44-2)
Pakistan:152 for 0 (17.5 overs)
Rizwan 79*, Azam 68*
It was 13th time lucky for Pakistan – except there was nothing lucky about it. After a run of 12 defeats to India, Pakistan finally defeated their greatest rivals in a World Cup match. Millions had been dreaming of this moment for years.
Yet they could scarcely imagine that it would come like this – a 10-wicket victory with 13 balls to spare. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan shared a chanceless stand of 152 after Shaheen Shah Afridi had established Pakistan’s dominance with a mesmerising new-ball spell.
The salient difference between the two thrashings was that, in Dubai, the defeated side were not particularly bad; it was just that Pakistan played as if powered by an elemental force.
Even the most partisan among the disappointed Indian supporters to traipse away would have to acknowledge that this was a defeat authored by a spell of scintillating sport.
After winning the toss Babar promptly handed the new ball to Shaheen, his towering left-arm quick bowler. As he stood by the edge of the 30-yard circle, and then took a couple of steps in before beginning his run-up, Shaheen was about to bend the ball, and the game, to his will.
Pakistan have always had a penchant for producing fast-bowling phenomenons. Shaheen, 21, already seems a worthy successor to the dynasty of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar and Fazal Mahmood.
As their jubilant players huddled together after the match, they had restored hope to Pakistani cricket just as, after New Zealand’s and England’s recent withdrawals from touring, fears have resurfaced that they will once again have to play their home cricket in exile.
Circumstances have led Dubai to emerge as Pakistan’s main alternative home – so it was fitting, perhaps, that it now played host to a moment of treasured Pakistani history. It ended a captivating first weekend of the main stages of the World Cup.
Two days into the Super 12 stage, and the defending champions and favorites have both suffered emphatic defeats.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
