Reigning champions India ease past Pakistan
India put in an outstanding performance as they comprehensively beat Pakistan by 124 runs in their rain affected encounter in Birmingham on Sunday.
The defending Champions got their defence of their title off to a perfect start with a comfortable win against their rivals, but overall fans will be disappointed as once again the ‘biggest game’ in cricket was a one-sided affair as India controlled the contest for large periods.
Having been put into bat the Indian top order were clinical, with the top 4 all making contributions of at least 50, with Rohit Sharma top scoring with 91, but captain Virat Kohli stood out with an absorbing 81 not out from just 68 balls.
The seasoned entertainer Yuvraj Singh rolled back the years with a fantastic innings of 53 from 32 balls, elsewhere Shikhar Dhawan made a patient 68 as the Indian’s posted a daunting total of 319-3 from their 48 overs.
Mohammad Amir was by far the standout performer with the ball for Pakistan, but only Shadab Khan 1-52 and Hasan Ali 1-70 picked up wickets.
In response Pakistan required a revised total of 289 from their 41 overs, and in truth they never threatened as India took regular wickets and kept their opponents well below the required run rate.
Opening batsman Azhar Ali was the only batsmen to offer any resistance to the varied Indian bowling attack but his 50 was laboured and at times a hard watch. Umesh Yadav finished off with an impressive 3-30 from his 7.4 overs, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja both picked up two wickets each both finishing with identical figures of 2-43 from their 8 overs.
Elsewhere opening seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the first wicket of the innings removing Ahmed Shehzad, and finished up with 1-23 from his 5 overs.
India coped with the tough conditions admirably with the teams having to come off the field on three separate occasions, they now have stretched their winning run against Pakistan in major competitions to seven games.
This was a real statement win for India as they headed into the tournament with a number of question marks around their team. Sunday proved that they have serious quality within their ranks, and this win will give them all the confidence they need to believe, that they can defend their title.