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.
SIX! India 72-3 (11.2)
What a shot! It’s something he does better than just about anyone else, Rishabh Pant, looking completely out of position but still managing to clear the ropes. He contorts himself horribly and releases a hand from the bat as a Hasan Ali slower ball deceives him but has such power that he still sends it five rows back over backward square leg.
He really is the master of the off-platform six.
India 66-3 (11), V Kohli 28, R Pant 22
A brisk start from Rauf, hurrying Pant twice from a back of a length. That will likely be his ploy during the middle before looking to his yorkers at the death.
Six from the over as India keep ticking along.
India 63-3 (10.2)
Rauf is a fascinating story. He went to the Big Bash in Australia as a real unknown but was remarkably effective for the Melbourne Stars, and has surged to prominence quickly for Pakistan. He can be a little streaky, but he’s got out-and-out gas and is already up towards 90mph (145kph) in his first three balls, the second of which is a legside wide.
Drinks!
I think this is the right approach from India. The IPL showed that grinding out a score is never a bad strategy on these UAE surfaces and Kohli has measured his innings well so far. He will know that he has two strong hitters to come in Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya - can he and Rishabh Pant keep accumulating for the next five overs or so and set up a big finish?
Pakistan have back-loaded Haris Rauf’s overs, but with Hafeez through two for not too many, Babar Azam will have options at the death, which is valuable.
And here is Rauf to bowl the eleventh!
India 60-3 (10)
Three more singles to see out the over and the players will take a much-needed drink. It’s been frantic and furious so far, but this partnership is just beginning to build.
FOUR! India 57-3 (9.2)
Shot. Like a man rushing for the bus Pant is incredibly late on a skiddy off-break from Hafeez, taking virtually a lick of paint off his off stump as he eventually chops it between the two fielders fine of point on the offside, bisecting them perfectly for another boundary.
FOUR! India 52-3 (9)
In contrast, Rishabh Pant doesn’t look particularly settled, again swinging wildly at a wide leg-break from the continuing Shadab, drawing a half-hearted appeal from the bowler, but Rizwan is this time certain there is no feather. That’s better, a crisply struck cut that the off-side sweeper does well to haul back to prevent a boundary.
Streaky again! A horrible slice falls short of the long-off fielder as Pant tries to force some pace on a ball not quite of a full enough length for such an adventurous slog.
Finally he gets one away! Shadab drags the last ball of the over down the leg-side and Pant shovels it over short fine leg for four. A bit of a gift but perhaps a stroke to allow Pant to release a degree of tension.
India 43-3 (8)
Virat Kohli has looked a class apart so far, ever-able to generate a single off the spinners on a pitch that appears to be shaping similarly to the one that caused the West Indies such difficulty last night. The early impressions are that anything in excess of 135 might not be an awful score. There’s a bit of turn and a fair bit of bounce already for Pakistan’s tweakers.
NOT OUT! India 41-3 (7.4)
Marais Erasmus is proved correct. There’s not even a gurgle on UltraEdge as the ball passes Pant’s rather hopeful reverse-handed waft above a bouncing off-break, perhaps taking a sliver of the arm on its way through, and that is the first review lost for Pakistan. Rizwan was convinced having snared well, but no dice.
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