India vs Pakistan LIVE: T20 World Cup final score, result and reaction today
Pakistan beat great rivals India in T20 World Cup showdown
Captain Babar Azam led by example as Pakistan beat India in a World Cup showdown for the first time ever with a 10-wicket romp in a Super 12 blockbuster at the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.
Virat Kohli played a captain’s knock of 57 to rescue India from a top-order wobble and help them post a competitive 151-7 in a rematch of the inaugural 2007 final.
His counterpart Babar combined with Mohammad Rizwan to get Pakistan off to a flying start and then overwhelmed the target with 13 balls to spare to snap India’s 100% win record against them in limited-overs World Cups.
Babar remained not out on 68, while Rizwan made an unbeaten 79.
Wary of the dew factor, captains have preferred to field and Babar too followed that trend after winning the toss.
Pakistan did not have to wait long for a breakthrough as Shaheen Afridi (3-31) struck twice in his first seven deliveries to rattle India.
The left-arm pacer fired in a searing yorker-length delivery to dismiss Rohit Sharma lbw for a golden duck and, in his next over, rifled one through KL Rahul’s gate to rearrange the stumps.
Suryakumar Yadav hit Afridi for a six but Rizwan took a diving catch behind the stumps to dismiss the batsman and reduce India to 31-3 in the sixth over.
Kohli and Rishabh Pant calmed nerves in the Indian camp and guided the team to 60-3 at the halfway stage of the innings.
Pant then decided to counter-attack and hit Hasan Ali for back-to-back sixes but his ultra-aggression ultimately did him in.
Shadab Khan foxed Pant with a googly to induce a skier which the spinner caught himself to dismiss the batsman for 39.
Kohli fell in the penultimate over of the innings trying to accelerate but India still made the 150-mark.
Pakistan, in their reply, not only kept their wickets intact in the powerplay overs but also scored briskly with Babar and Rizwan effectively killing off the contest with their rock-solid stand.
Babar brought up his fifty in style, hitting spinner Varun Chakravarthy for a six, while Rizwan reached his own fifty with a pulled boundary off Jasprit Bumrah.
FOUR! Pakistan 112-0 (14), M Rizwan 48 (39), B Azam 61 (45)
And Ravindra Jadeja’s final ball of the night is also going to have to be retrieved from the boundary, dragged down the leg-side and given an encouraging slap by a swivelling Babar beyond short fine leg. Pakistan cruising.
Pakistan 108-0 (13.5)
This has been high, high quality from Pakistan, who are now able to play freely with so many wickets in hand and moving ever nearer to India’s total. Babar pulls Ravindra Jadeja crisply to the cow corner fence for four more.
Pakistan 101-0 (13), M Rizwan 46 (37), B Azam 52 (41)
A single brings up the 100 partnership for this pairing - what a revelation they have been since being combined at the top of the order.
Just 51 needed from the last 42 balls after a big over to rather ruin Varun Chakravarthy’s figures - 4-0-33-0 is his final analysis.
SIX AND FIFTY FOR BABAR AZAM! Pakistan 99-0 (12.4)
Bigger, and better! Short from Chakravarthy and that’s a mahoooooosive blow from Babar, thumping it over midwicket for a sizeable six to bring up a 40-ball half-century. Four fours, two sixes, and all class from the Pakistan captain.
SIX! Pakistan 92-0 (12.2)
Clears square leg! Varun Chakravarthy has barely had an attacking shot played against him but Mohammad Rizwan finally loses patience. It isn’t quite there for the big heave to the leg-side, turning away from a length outside off, but the boundary is short enough and the connection sufficiently clean to come down a couple of metres beyond the fielder on the fence.
Pakistan 85-0 (12), M Rizwan 38 (34), B Azam 44 (38)
Ravindra Jadeja is properly forcing the ball through here, up over 60mph as he tries to tie down the Pakistan pair. It doesn’t look simple to deal with his darts, driven into the surface, often from wide of the crease, but a slight erring in length means Rizwan can pull between the fielders in the deep to cow corner and collect a couple.
He tries to repeat the dose but the ball this time skids on, thudding into his thigh via an inside edge and drawing a right hook of frustration from the batter. Rizwan is removing his helmet after every over and is caked in sweat on a sticky Emirati evening.
Pakistan 79-0 (11), M Rizwan 35 (30), B Azam 43 (36)
Nearly the perfect answer from Bumrah, seeking the base of the stumps with another of those devastating yorkers and so nearly finding it, the ball giving Babar’s off-peg a frisk as it hurries past having beaten his defences.
Still, two twos and a single, plus that boundary, make that a good over for Pakistan.
FOUR! Pakistan 77-0 (10.2)
Delightful! A slower ball from Bumrah is lifted by a flowing off-drive from Babar Azam, just holding his stroke slightly in recognition of the change-of-pace and beating a leaping mid-off in reasonable comfort for four.
Drinks!
Virat Kohli looked quite controlled in India’s tam huddle. He’s still got three overs left from Jasprit Bumrah, the first of which he will use now. He might not be able to afford to leave the remaining two to the death.
Pakistan 71-0 (10), M Rizwan 35 (30), B Azam 34 (30)
A clean defensive stroke to close the tenth from Mohammad Rizwan and the batters have faced 30 balls apiece as we reach the halfway point of the chase, and take a drink.
81 needed off the last ten - on most surfaces that would represent a cruise with all ten wickets intact but it became tough to score at the end of India’s innings when Pakistan went to their slower balls. Pakistan bat all the way down to nine so are well set, but with these two set, they may also be keen to try and force the pace in the next few overs to get ahead of the game.
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