DUBAI: India Sunday avenged their T20 World Cup humiliation after defeating Pakistan in the low-scoring Asia Cup 2022 clash at the Dubai Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja led the team to a five-wicket victory as the team chased the 148-run target in 19.4 runs despite facing an early setback of top-order batters being sent back to the pavilion.

Earlier, the Pakistani batters failed to perform in the high-stakes clash as they handed India a 148-run target. Pakistan lost important wickets of skipper Babar Azam (10), Fakhar Zaman (10), and Iftikhar Ahmed (28) within 12 overs, but Mohammad Rizwan kept the fight going to keep his team afloat. Rizwan (43) was sent back to the pavilion by Hardik Pandya later on. The batters that followed tried to fight back, however, no one managed to rise to the occasion. The last wicket was of Shahnawaz Dahani that fell in 19.5 overs, with Pakistan managing to score 147 runs.

Despite setbacks, India found runs from Virat Kohli (35), Ravindra Jadeja (35) and more importantly, Hardik Pandya (33* off 17) who stayed till the end and hit a six with just two balls left to get India over the line. Earlier, Pakistan’s susceptibility against bouncy deliveries, which had long existed but not troubled them in recent times at least not in Dubai was superbly exploited by India to restrict them to just 147.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 29 2022

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