June 10 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Team India performed brilliantly under pressure to beat arch-rivals Pakistan by six runs in New York. Despite being bowled out on just 119 with an over remaining, the Indian bowlers mounted an incredible comeback, restricting their opponents to just 113/7 in 20 overs to seal a second successive win in the competition.
It was a below-par batting performance for India, with Rishabh Pant (42) being the highest run-scorer, and even as Pakistan made a stable start – reaching 57/1 at the halfway mark – the side lost the plot with Jasprit Bumrah (3/14), Hardik Pandya (2/24), and Axar Patel (1/11) producing brilliant bowling efforts to steer an Indian comeback for the ages.
Bumrah, who was named the player of the match, picked the key breakthrough when he dismissed the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan in the 15th over of the match, following which Pakistan’s hopes took a big hit. However, India, too, faced a minor scare when Mohammed Siraj, bowling the 17th over of the innings, bowled a no ball at a crucial juncture in the run-chase.
With Pakistan requiring 29 runs off 17 deliveries, Siraj overstepped, providing a boost for the under-pressure newly-arrived batter Iftikhar Ahmed. Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, who was on-air during the incident, lost his cool at Siraj overstepping the line.
“Unforgivable. Professional cricketers, whatever you are, you cannot bowl a no-ball. It is in your control. Wide balls are not always in your control but no-ball is. Unprofessional, unacceptable at this level. No excuses whatsoever,” an irate Gavaskar said on air.
However, the overstepping from Siraj didn’t hurt India much, as he conceded only two runs off the free hit. Even as Pakistan scored 9 runs off his over, Siraj registered economical bowling figures of 0/19 in his four overs. He was the only bowler to have bowled all four overs but go wicketless. Ravindra Jadeja was the other one but he bowled just 2 overs for 10 runs.
Bumrah the star
Bumrah’s effort confined Pakistan in New York, but India skipper Rohit Sharma wanted his lethal weapon to perform at the same level for the entire duration of the T20 World Cup.
Bumrah was magnificent in India’s six-run victory in which he not only had figures of 3/14 in four overs, but also included an astounding 15 dot balls while defending a paltry total of 119, the lowest total any team has ever defended at a T20 World Cup. The win also takes India’s domination over Pakistan to 7-1 in T20 World Cups.