Dhaka – Pakistan wanted to break their losing streak against India in the World Cup, but they failed to make it once again as they suffered an 89-run defeat on Sunday at Manchester.
India batted first after losing the toss and put a massive total of 334 for five wickets in 50 overs with the help of Rohit Sharma’s 140.
While replying, Pakistan lost six wickets at 166 runs after 35 overs, and they had no hope to win this game. At the point of time, rain came in and Pakistan’s target was reset at 302 runs in 40 overs. However, Pakistan ended on 212 for six in 40 overs and lost the game by 89 runs (DL Method).
Fakhar Zaman (62), Babar Azam (48) and Imad Wasim (46) were the only Pakistani batsmen to show some prowess against Indian bowling attack, but their efforts were not enough to overcome the Indian challenge for them.
Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each for India to seal the game. It was India’s third win out of four matches they have played in this World Cup and they are now at number three in the points table with seven points. On the other hand, Pakistan are now at number nine in the points table with four losses in five matches in the World Cup so far.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bowl first in the overcast condition. But the Pakistani bowlers failed to capitalise on the surface. Instead, they leaked runs at a run rate of 5.25 in the first 20 overs.
On the way, Rohit completed his fifty off 34 balls, which came as an immense pressure for Pakistan, who missed out a couple of run-out chances at the start of the innings.
Lokesh fell as the first batsman scoring 57 off 78 with three fours and two sixes. Lokesh did his job accurately as the replacement of Shikhar Dhawan who has been ruled out of the match due to a hand injury.
After putting up an opening stand of 136 runs, India got 98 more runs in the second wicket stand comprising Virat Kohli and Rohit. Rohit completed his 24th ODI hundred off 85 balls, which was his second ton in World Cups and third against archrivals Pakistan.
Rohit fell for 140 off 113 with 14 fours and three sixes. He had all the chance to register another double hundred to his career. But fell prey to Hasan Ali.
The Indian opener went to play a fancy shot off Hasan but failed to time the ball properly. Wahab Riaz took an easy catch to remove him.
After Rohit’s removal, Hardik Pandya came in and played sparkling innings of 26 off 19 deliveries with two fours and one six. He was hunted by Mohammad Amir, who also removed MS Dhoni for one in his next over.
Rain came in at 6:45pm (BST) to interrupt the game when Indian scored 305 for 4 in 46.4 overs.
The match resumed after 45 minutes, and India lost Kohli in the 48th over. Amir removed him off a short ball. Kohli went to pull it away but managed only a nick to the wicketkeeper. However, the TV replays showed the ball was far away from nicking the bat. Eventually, India ended up with 336 for five in 50 overs.
For Pakistan, Amir took three wickets conceding 47 runs while Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz shared one wicket each.
However, Rohit Sharma was the man of the match for his 140 runs, which was his second ton in this World Cup.
India will take on Afghanistan in their next game on June 22 while Pakistan will face South Africa on June 23 in their next game.UNB
