AGENCY
Birmingham: India launched their campaign in the Champions Trophy with a resounding 124-run victory over Pakistan here today, extending their dominance over the arch- rivals in major ICC tournaments.
Put in to bat, defending champions India notched up a competitive 319 for three after two rain interruptions reduced the match to 48 overs a side at the Edgbaston.
Set a revised target of 324 in 48 overs at the start of their innings under the Duckworth/Lewis method, Pakistan were required to chase 289 in 41 overs when play resumed after the day’s third rain interruption.
The task proved too much for Pakistan, who were bowled out for 164 in 33.4 overs.
Following the latest result, the teams are locked at 2-2 in the Champions Trophy, but it is India who have won 10 out of the 11 contests at the World Cup and World T20 tournaments between the two sub-continent rivals.
While India were clinical with both the bat and ball, their fielding left a lot to be desired, and Pakistan were worse than the men in blue, giving Yuvraj Singh three lives, besides being sloppy with ground fielding.
When on 37, Azhar Ali was dropped by Bhuvneshwar Kumar running in from long-on. Hasan Ali’s dismissal by pacer Umesh Yadav (3/30) signalled the end of what was a much-anticipated match, as Wahab Riaz could not bat due to a twisted ankle.
Earlier, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh stood out in an all-round batting effort, propelling India to 319 for three after rain halted proceedings twice in the marquee clash.
Indian batsmen remained focussed despite the rain breaks with Rohit Sharma (91 off 119), Shikhar Dhawan (68 off 65), Virat Kohli (81 not out off 68) and Yuvraj (53 off 32) rising to the occasion in a game reduced to 48 overs a side.
Thanks to the big hitting by Yuvraj, Kohli and Hardik Pandya, India amassed 72 runs in the last four overs with the 46th and 48th going for 21 and 23 runs.
While Kohli punished pacer Riaz, Pandya smashed three consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Imad Wasim in the final over. In a match watched by Sachin Tendulkar from the stands, Indian batsmen went on the rampage in the death overs after patiently seeing off two rain breaks.
Play was stopped first when India were 46 for no loss in the 10th over and rain played spoilsport again when they were 173 for one in the 34th over with Rohit and Kohli holding fort.
It was not surprising that Sarfraz Ahmed sent India in to bat after winning the toss under overcast conditions.
score board
India innings
RG Sharma run out (Babar Azam/†Sarfraz Ahmed) 91
S Dhawan c Azhar Ali b Shadab Khan 68
V Kohli* not out 81
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Hasan Ali 53
HH Pandya not out 20
Extras 06
Total 319/3
Pakistan innings
Azhar Ali c Pandya b Jadeja 50
Ahmed Shehzad lbw b Kumar 12
Babar Azam c Jadeja b Yadav 08
Mohammad Hafeez c Kumar b Jadeja 33
Shoaib Malik run out (Jadeja) 15
Sarfraz Ahmed*† c †Dhoni b Pandya 15
Imad Wasim c Jadhav b Pandya 00
Shadab Khan not out 14
Mohammad Amir c Jadhav b Yadav 09
Hasan Ali c Dhawan b Yadav 00
Wahab Riaz absent hurt – –
Extras 08
Total 164/10
