What have we seen here? The Indian cricket team has defended 120 runs, their lowest-ever successful defending total in T20I cricket. To do that in the India vs Pakistan match on a difficult Nassau Cricket Stadium pitch is truly astounding. After 11 overs, India was given a 2.5% chance to win the match, and yet here we stand. In 2022, after the 11-over mark, only a 6.71% chance was given to the Men in Blue. Two years ago, it was the Shot of an Emperor that got India across the line; this time it’s the Yorker King.
Bowlers save India
Defending just 120, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj couldn’t take wickets but contained the flow of runs. Shivam Dube who’d failed with the bat earlier, dropped a dolly off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling to give Mohammad Rizwan a reprieve. Luckily, Bumrah got the big fish in Babar Azam in his very next over, courtesy of a great catch by Suryakumar Yadav at second slip.
After that a long dry wicketless came for India. But it was Axar Patel and a brilliant review from Rohit Sharma handed the Men in Blue their second wicket. From there on the floodgates opened. With just 63 needed 10 overs and 8 wickets in hand, Pakistan scored just 50 runs and lost 6 wickets.
The win belongs to Arshdeep, Bumrah, Siraj and Hardik Pandya, who claimed 6 of the 7 wickets that fell. A truly miraculous and memorable win.
T20 World Cup
Indian batters stumble to 119
A horrendous batting display on a pitch that had no demons. No one barring Rishabh Pant faced more than 20 deliveries or crossed the 20-run mark. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma got out on balls that should have been dispatched to the boundary. Axar Patel, who was Men in Blue’s second-highest scorer, ran down the pitch for no reason and got his stumps shattered against the dangerous Naseem Shah.
Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Ravindra Jadeja seemed to have forgotten how to bat. None of them ever had a strike rate of 100 and were dumbfounded against Pakistan’s pace quarter. Funnily enough, only Rohit, Axar, and Pant scored more runs than Arshdeep Singh (9).
Even Pant got lucky multiple times. He was dropped twice by Usman Khan and had two edges fly over Iftikhar Ahmed at second slip. He miscued shots and was beaten multiple times, but he rode his luck to 42. India would have wanted him to score more, but given how he was playing, it was bound to happen.
