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 went onto notch a match turning innings of 140 runs well supported by Virat Kohli who played a blistering innings of 77 runs to help India finish at 336/5 after the end of 50 overs, despite losing wickets in the death overs.
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.
Pakistani fan blames eateries for the poor performance of his team
The angry Pakistani fans lashed out at their team for the lack of intent and fighting spirit in the game against India. Amongst them was an angry fan who lashed out at the Pakistani team and said that they have spent lots of money to watch the game and watching the lack of fighting spirit was a big disappointment for them. He had tears in his eyes while talking to a news channel and accused the Pakistani players of having burger, pizza, sweets and ice cream, ahead of the high profile clash against India which made them unfit.
He also criticized his skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed for yawning on the cricket field during the 47th over of the Indian innings.
“Mujhe pata chala hai kal raat ye log burger khate rahe hai, kal raat ye log pizza khate rahe hai. Inahu cricket chudvao aur dangal ladvao. Inse koi dangal lade. Matlab koi fitness koi kuch nahi yaha pe. Matlab hum inse itni umeede banake baithe hai aur inhe burger khana hai“. (I came to know that yesterday these players were eating burgers and pizzas. They should leave cricket and start wrestling as they are not bothered about their fitness,” the angry fan said.
