Picture : ICC / X
India maintained their near perfect record against Pakistan at World Cups as they beat them comfortably by seven wickets at the Narendra Modi stadium at Ahmedabad in the much awaited encounter. India now extended their World Cup domination over their arch rivals to 8-0.
Earlier India Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first. Pak got off to a positive start with openers – Abdullah Shafique ( 20 ), Imam-ul-Haq ( 36 ), Skipper Babar Azam ( 50 ) , Mohammad Rizwan ( 49 ) but they could not carry on . And at one stage Pak looked on course for 300 plus but soon collapsed from 155/ 3 in 29. 4 overs to 191 all- out . Other batsmen flopped against wily Indian spin and pacers . Saud Shakeel ( 6), Iftikhar Ahmed ( 4 ), Shadab Khan ( 2 ) , Mohammad Nawaz ( 4), Hasan Ali ( 12) , Shaheen Afridi not out 2 , Haris Rauf ( 2)
All Indian bowlers used by Rohit Sharma bagged wickets to put Pak on the mat . Jasprit Bumrah 2/ 20 ( 7 overs) , Mohammed Siraj 2/ 50 ( 8 overs) , Hardik Pandya 2/34 ( 6 overs) , Kuldeep Yadav 2/ 25 ( 10 overs), Ravindra Jadeja 2/ 38 ( 9.5 overs) , only Shardul Thakur 0/ 12 ( 2 overs) did not bag a wicket
In reply, India were aggressive. Shubman Gill back from injury / illness scored 16 . But Skipper Rohit Sharma was in blistering mood as he smashed a powered packed innings of 86 ( 63 balls , 6 fours , 6 sixes) . Rohit played his trademark lofted shots and magnificent pull shots into the crowd. It was sublime batting from the India skipper . Virat Kohli too looked in ominous form hitting some classic drives through the covers but he mis-timed a pull shot for 16. But Shreyas Iyer not out 53 ( 62 balls 3 fours 2 sixes ) and K L Rahul not out 19 saw India home . India reaching 192/ 3 in 30. 3 overs .
Pak bowlers tried hard but the target was not big enough to test India – The Bowling figures read : Shaheen Afridi 2/ 36 ( 6 overs) , Hasan Ali 1/ 34 ( 6 overs) , Mohammad Nawaz 0/47 ( 8.3 overs), Haris Rauf 0/ 43 ( 6 overs), Shadab Khan 0/ 31 ( 4 overs)
Match: World Cup 2023, 12th Match
Venue: Ahmedabad | Date: October 14, 2023
