Utkal Reporter Bureau| 15 February
India
And India won the match. It is now six-love for India against Pakistan in the world-cup. Virat Kohli raised his performance for the big occasion; bowlers showed the discipline that they have missed in the recent time and the Indo –Pak encounter virtually ended in a one side affair.
Chasing a target of 300 the Pakistani team in a high voltage atmosphere exhausted at 224. Umesh Yadav claimed four scalps. His double blow in the 24th over tilted the match towards India by then it was equally poised. Jadeja removed Umar Akmal in the next over to make Pakistani movement difficult. Even Misbah and Afridi failed to do much though the pair occupied the crease for the next ten overs. Md. Shammi removed Afridi in the 35th over to seal pakistan’s chance in the match. Captain Misbah carried on his innings but the match has never been in his reach. He scored 76.
On Sunday afternoon when Dhoni’s squad took to the field in Adelaide as the defending champion they are carrying a luggage of quite a many defeats, bad form and injuries. Besides there was the pressure of an Indo- Pak clash. Dhoni won the toss and decided to set a target for the rival to chase. The previous three matches had witnessed high targets that might have prompted Dhoni’s decision. In addition the world cup record shows the Pakistanis giving in to the pressure of chasing against India. However Dhoni always has his own method of taking decision.
Virat Kohli, not having any significant knock in the last few matches could gather his potential on this big occasion after the opening pair broke at 68. He made two century partnerships with Sikhar and Raina and eventually scored his 22nd century, first by any Indian against Pakistan in the world cup. Raina’s 74 of 56 balls set the real pace of the innings. At a stage India’s score was well set to go past 300 but the batting collapsed in the last five overs as Sohail Khan bagged five for.
Scoreboard
India: Rohit Sharma c Misbah b Sohail 15 (20b, 2×4), Shikhar Dhawan run out 73 (76b, 7×4, 1×6), Virat Kohli c Akmal b Sohail 107 (126b, 8×4), Suresh Raina c Haris b Sohail 74 (56b, 5×4, 3×6), M.S. Dhoni c Misbah b Sohail 18 (13b, 1×4, 1×6), Ravindra Jadeja b Riaz 3 (5b), Ajinkya Rahane b Sohail 0 (1b), R. Ashwin (not out) 1 (1b), Mohammed Shami (not out) 3 (3b), Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-1) 6; Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 300.
Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Rohit), 2-163 (Dhawan), 3-273 (Kohli), 4-284 (Raina), 5-296 (Jadeja), 6-296 (Dhoni), 7-296 (Rahane).
Pakistan bowling: Mohammad Irfan 10-0-58-0, Sohail Khan 10-0-55-5, Shahid Afridi 8-0-50-0, Wahab Riaz 10-0-49-1, Yasir Shah 8-0-60-0, Haris Sohail 4-0-26-0.
Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad c Jadeja b Yadav 47 (73b, 5×4), Younis Khan c Dhoni b Shami 6 (10b, 1×4), Haris Sohail c Raina b Ashwin 36 (48b, 3×4), Misbah-ul-Haq c Rahane b Shami 76 (84b, 9×4, 1×6) , Sohaib Maqsood c Raina b Yadav 0 (2b), Umar Akmal c Dhoni b Jadeja 0 (4b), Shahid Afridi c Kohli b Shami 22 (22b, 1×4, 1×6), Wahab Riaz c Dhoni b Shami 4 (2b, 1×4), Yasir Shah c Yadav b Mohit 13 (23b, 1×4), Sohail Khan c Yadav b Mohit 7 (10b, 1×4), Mohammad Irfan (not out) 1 (5b), Extras (lb-1, w-10, nb-1) 12; Total (in 47 overs) 224.
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Younis), 2-79 (Sohail), 3-102 (Shehzad), 4-102 (Maqsood), 5-103 (Akmal), 6-149 (Afridi), 7-154 (Riaz), 8-203 (Shah), 9-220 (Misbah).
bowling: Umesh Yadav 10-0-50-2, Mohammed Shami 9-1-35-4, Mohit Sharma 9-0-35-2, Suresh Raina 1-0-6-0, R. Ashwin 8-3-41-1, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-56-1.
Toss: India won the toss and decided to Bat first
Man-of-the-Match: Virat Kohli
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