T20 World Cup: Shaheen Afridi, Openers Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan Help Pakistan Beat India By 10 Wickets
NDTV
Babar Azam's side dominated the game from the word go and never allowed India to stage a comeback. The match was set up by paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi, who sent the Indian openers packing inside the powerplay, a blow that India could never recover from.
The monkey is finally off the back of Pakistan as they completed a resounding 10-wicket triumph over India in their opening match of the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai, to complete their first-ever win over the arch-rivals in a World Cup encounter. The victory comes after 5 straight losses over the years against the 'Men in Blue'in the showpiece event of cricket's shortest format,including a painful loss in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Babar Azam's side dominated the game from the word go and never allowed India to stage a comeback. The match was set up by paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi, who sent the Indian openers packing inside the powerplay, a blow that India could never recover from. Indian captain Virat Kohli showed yet again why he is the man for the big occasions as he slammed a gritty half-century, but it wasn't enough to take the team to a huge total as India posted 151/7 in their 20 overs.
In response, Pakistan's in-form opening duo of captain Babar and wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan looked in sublime touch as they deposited the hapless Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Babar remained unbeaten on 68, while Rizwan scored a magnificent 79 not out to power the team to a memorable win, with 13 balls to spare.
None of the Indian bowlers could impact the match as Babar and Rizwan held court in the Dubai International Stadium, playing with power and panache. Rizwan was dominant in the closing stages as he hit Mohammed Shami for 17 runs in the 18th over to script a historic win for his team.
Earlier, India were off to a shocker of a start as left-arm-paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi was on fire as he trapped Rohit Sharma plumb in front of the wicket with a scorching yorker to send back the veteran opener for a golden duck on the fourth delivery of the first over of the innings.
