India pipped Pakistan in a match which went to the last over before Hardik Pandya sealed it with a six over long on to give a 5 wickets victory to India. Earlier, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first at Dubai International stadium, the same venue where India lost to Pakistan by 10 wickets in t20 world cup group stage clash last year.
Pakistan could not replicate the success like that of last year’s world cup encounter as skipper Babar Azam(10 off 9) was send packing to the pavilion by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan scored 43 runs off 42 balls but that didn’t helped the cause of the men in green considering the shortest format of the game. In the middle overs, Iftikhar Ahmed scored 28 off 22 balls but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya demolished the Pakistani middle and lower middle order. At 128-9 in 18.3 overs, Pakistan was heading towards a bleak total before number 11 Shahnawaz Dahani chipped in with 16 off just 6 balls which had two monstrous six to take Pakistan to a total of 147 runs.
India started off poorly as KL Rahul was dismissed on the second ball of the innings. Virat Kohli found some touch in his 100th T20 match and scored 35 off 34 balls to build a 49 run partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma. Part time spinner Mohammad Nawaz was introduced to the attack and he packed Rohit and then Virat to pavilion in two successive overs. SuryaKumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja tried to build the ship for India again but they lost the former batsman as the scorecard read 89-4 at the end of 14.2 overs. The run rate kept soaring high and tumbling wickets added to India’s misery but in walked Hardik Pandya and he changed the complexion of the match on its head.
Pandya and Jadeja added 52 runs together in just 29 balls to keep India in the game. With 7 needed of the last over, Jadeja was dismissed on the first ball and Dinesh Karthik walk on the crease to take single on the second ball. Pandya played a dot ball and made situation look tensed with 6 more needed of 3 balls but a six of the 4th ball of the 20th over ensured India sails through to a 5 wickets win and Hardik Pandya slowly earning the tag of a reliable finisher after MS Dhoni.
India up against Hong Kong
India will now be up against minnows Hong Kong and results are only a mere formality as it is expected to be in India’s favour except if men in blue commits a blunder to give any chance to the team who qualified through the Asia Cup qualifiers.
However, the most striking thing about Hong Kong is the presence of 12 Pakistan born or having their roots from Pakistan in the team. Its worth mentioning that Pakistani youth often go to Hong Kong or China for better life opportunity and meanwhile also play cricket for the local club to make their way to the national setup. The names of the cricketers who have roots from Pakistan are-
Zeeshan Ali from Lahore, Yasim Murtaza from Sialkat, Wajid Shah, Mohammad Waheed from Lahore, Mohammad Ghazanfar(Mirpur in Kashmir), Haroon Arshad(ancestors from Pakistan), Ehsan Khan from Rawalpindi, Babar Hayat from Attock in Punjab, Ateez Iqbal, Aftab Hussain(ancestors from Pakistan), Aizaz Khan(ancestors from Pakistan), Nizakat Khan from Shinka.
Four other cricketers are having their roots from India and Scott McKenchie is also part of the team who was born in England.
India will take on Hong Kong on 31st August from 7:30 Indian time and 7 PM Pakistan time.
