India pipped a low lying Pakistan in the high profile world cup clash in Manchester on Sunday. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the man of the match for his magnificent innings of 140 runs that took the game away from Pakistan.
Earlier in the game, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first in an overcast conditions in Manchester. The decision was right as far as the records are concern, considering the team batting second has won 26 games in Manchester. However, the decision was proved wrong by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who put up a 136 run stand for the first wicket.
Rohit Sharma took the Pakistani bowlers under remand as he completed his century. With the 85-ball ton, Sharma became the second batsman after Virat Kohli to score a hundred against Pakistan in a world cup game.
In his innings of 140 runs off 113 balls against Pakistan, Rohit also hit his 356th six in International cricket. He surpassed the record of MS Dhoni who currently sits at the number two spot with 355 sixes. Sachin Tendulkar is third in the list with 264 sixes followed by Yuvraj Singh(251 sixes), Sourav Ganguly(247 sixes) and Virender Sehwag(243 sixes).
Rohit Sharma gives a cheeky reply to a Pakistani journalist
Man of the match- Rohit Sharma was asked to give some advice to the struggling Pakistani batsman by a journalist. Rohit smiled and replied that he would be able to advice only after he is made the batting coach of the Pakistani team.
“Agar main Pakistan ka coach bana to main bataunga, abhi kya bataunga!(If I become the coach of Pakistan then surely I will tell you. What can I say now!),” replied Rohit that cracked the funny bones of everyone in the press conference hall.
Here’s the video
India registers a win
Chasing a mammoth target of 377 runs, it was not going to be an easy job for Pakistan as their highest chase in world cup has been 270 runs and turning the history tables is a big task to conquer. The key to the chase was the opening pair of Fakhar Zaman(62 off 75 balls) and Imam-ul-Haq(7 off 18 balls) but the latter batsman got out early that put all the pressure on Pakistan.
Babar Azam(48 off 57 balls) and Fakhar Zaman put up a 104 run stand for the second wicket that brought the hopes back in the Pakistani camp. After the departure of Babar Azam, the men in green were blown away like a pack of cards as they lost Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez(9 off 7 balls), Shoaib Malik(0 off 1 balls) and were struggling at 129/5.
After losing a cluster of wickets it was all India from there. Rain spoiled the play yet again and duckworth lewis stern method came into play with Pakistan needing 136 runs from 30 balls. All-rounders Imad Wasim(46 off 39 balls) and Shadab Khan(20 off 14 balls) put up a 47 run stand but it was not enough to win the game for Pakistan and break the world cup jinx of never winning against India. The men in green lost the game by 89 runs courtesy DLS method and they now have to win all their remaining encounters to stand any chance of qualifying in the semi-finals.
Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya picked two wickets each.
