Fantastic effort from the bowlers enabled India to skittle out arch-rivals Pakistan for a modest 165 in an inconsequential group league match of the ICC Champions Trophy here on Saturday.
Spin twins Ravindra Jadeja (2/30 in 8 overs)and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/35 in 8 overs) kept the Pakistan batsmen on a leash during middle overs after brilliant opening spell by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/19 in 8 overs), who again produced the goods upfront.
The match which was reduced to 40-overs-a-side due to frequent rain interruptions saw ‘Men In Blue’ control proceedings right from the beginning as they bundled out their opponents in only 39.4 overs.
While Asad Shafiq (41) was the top-scorer for Pakistan, a lot of their batsmen got starts but were unable to convert into substancial score due to some impressive bowling by the quartet of Jadeja, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar and Ishant Sharma (2/40). The bowlers produced wickets at regular intervals as Pakistan’s woeful show with the bat continued.
The top-order again saw a familiar collapse. Nasir Jamshed, who has scored all his three ODI centuries against India, failed to reproduce his magic this time.
The left-handed opener was circumspect and enjoyed a ‘life’ when on 1. Ruled out leg before by umpire Richard Kettleborough, the batsman was saved by the DRS but his innings was cut short by a beauty from Bhuvneshwar. Bhuvneshwar got the ball to swing both ways and found the edge of Jamshed’s tentative prod which saw Suresh Raina complete an easy catch at second slip. Jamshed scored just 2 runs off nine balls.
Kamran Akmal and Mohammed Hafeez consolidated the innings but a steady downpour send the players back in the pavilion.
The 46-run second wicket stand was over immediately after resumption. Hafeez offered a loose stroke to an innocuous Kumar delivery to edge to a diving Dhoni. Hafeez was out for a 31-ball 27 that was laced with five fours, two of them off successive Umesh Yadav deliveries.
Spin was introduced in the 14th over through Ravichandran Ashwin. With rain threat looming large, Dhoni wanted to complete the overs quickly.
After looking good for his 21 that contained couple of well-timed boundaries, Akmal, promoted to open the innings in place of an out-of-form Imran Farhat, lost his cool and threw his wicket away. Akmal went for a big drive against the turn and the inside edge flew to Virat Kohli at leg slips off Dhoni’s pads.
Pakistan lost wickets in a hurry after the second rain beak. The match was reduced to 40-over-a-side and Pakistan lost three wickets in 15 balls and added just nine runs. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was the first to go, bowled by an arm-ball from Ravichandran Jadeja. He made 22 off 33 balls, but with Asad Shafiq produced 54 runs for the fourth wicket, Pakistan’s best of the day.
For a gutsy 27 not out off 26 balls from Umar Amin, the Pakistan tail refused to wag.
Brief scores
Pakistan: 165 in 39.4 overs (D/l score 167) (A Shafiq 41, Umar Amin no 27; B Kumar 2/19, R Jadeja 2/30, R Ashwin 2/35, I Sharma 2/40) against India.