T20 World Cup 2021: Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets

The opening-pair has performed an absolute masterclass in the high-pressure run chase. The target never looked out of reach during the chase as the Pakistani opening pair always looked to be in control of the required run-rate.

Asked to bat by the Pakistan captain, India posted a competitive total of 151-7 in 20 overs as Virat Kohli scored a half-century and also helped Rishabh Pant with 39 runs.

In reply, Pakistan got off to a steady start as both the openers took a 43-0 lead in 6 overs at the end of the powerplay.

When it came to the first innings, India’s in-form openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul fell early as Shaheen Afridi’s pace bowling caught the star-studded Indian batting line-up off guard.

Suryakumar Yadav soon returned to the pavilion behind the openers, before Rishabh Pant joined Virat Kohli (57) to consolidate the innings. However, Pant’s gritty innings did not last long as Shadab Khan dismissed the left-hander for 39 (30).

For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi was the choice of the bowling line-up, taking 3 crucial wickets for just 31 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Hasan Ali was very expensive during the innings. The rest of the bowlers kept it tight and shattered India’s wickets, not allowing the Men-in-Blue to post a big total.

India and Pakistan today renewed their high-profile but one-sided cricket rivalry in a T20 World Cup blockbuster that was watched by millions of fans across the globe.

This was the first time since the 50-over World Cup in 2019 that the two countries had clashed.

Playing XI of both the teams:

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakraborty, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.