Pakistan managed to give up a tie they controlled for significant portions of the game on Sunday in New York during their World Cup 2024 match against India, when they choked in the closing sequence.
The Green Shirts were on the edge of an early tournament departure when their run chase mysteriously and predictably went awry. Chasing a pitiful 120, they could only score 113 for the loss of 7 wickets.
Early on, Indian fielders dropped both of the Green Shirts’ openers, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, giving the team two lifelines.
But Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Babar quickly and was a problem for Pakistan the entire innings.
The run chase continued unabated, making it Pakistan’s to lose, even if other players in the top and middle orders of the country made double-figure contributions but did not stay long.
Rizwan (age 31) was supposed to go through to the very finish. But Bumrah’s dismissal of Rizwan in the fifteenth over upon his return opened the floodgates, as wickets continued to fall but the hits required to move closer to the target never materialized.
Pakistan ultimately ended up seven runs short of their objective, scoring 113-7.
Earlier, Pakistani pacers made the most of New York’s cloudy weather to restrict India to 119 runs.
India’s inning
On the third ball of the second over, young Usman Khan captured Indian star Virat Kohli at point.
The next player out was opener Rohit Sharma, who gave up after Shaheen put pressure on him with three good balls. Haris Rauf caught him in the deep as he attempted to flip the ace pace over square.
After the pacer was brought back into the attack, Naseem bowled Axar in the eighth over.
In the twelfth over, Suryakumar Yadav was removed by Haris Rauf. After being dismissed for three boundaries in his opening over, the bowler bounced back, giving up only one run in his next over and taking the valuable wicket of Yadav.
After Shivam Dube picked up the ball and passed on, Naseem took his third wicket of the match.
The wheels came off the Indian innings as Amir took Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja in consecutive overs in the 15-over.
Despite the fact that both nations are dominant in cricket, there aren’t often head-to-head encounters between them. The last Test match between the two teams took place in 2007. They don’t play each other outside of International Cricket Council (ICC) sanctioned events.
In their Group A match, the Rohit Sharma-led Indians defeated Babar Azam and his team at the 34,000-seat Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, which was constructed earlier this year.
The highly anticipated event’s tickets were sold out months in advance.
Pakistan would have a much harder time making it to the Super Eight round of the 20-nation competition if they lost today’s game.
Before the match began, there was a 43% chance of rain, which increased to 54% around 11 a.m. New York time, according to AccuWeather.
Babar said that his squad has a habit of undervaluing less experienced players at important events after a surprising loss to the United States, and he added that his team performed far below its usual level on Thursday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced in a post on X that the ICC will set up its Official T20 World Cup Fanpark at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium for today’s match.
The event description read, “Come one and all, enjoy the game on the biggest screens; with a musical concert and fun activities for all ages!”
Tickets for the VIP Stand can be reserved at t20worldcup.bookme.pk, and general enclosure admission is free.
“Difficult pitch”
Concerns regarding the new pitches used for the T20 World Cup matches played in New York have also been raised due to a few surprising results; the ICC has acknowledged that the surfaces have not been up to par.
The two matches played at the makeshift Nassau County International Cricket Stadium thus far have resulted in low-scoring contests because of the drop-in pitch’s peculiar movement and bounce, which has made batting quite challenging.
Encouraged by a victory over Ireland, Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour has called it a “challenging wicket,” but he also said his players have the knowledge and expertise to handle it.
Pakistan’s newly appointed head coach for white ball cricket, Gary Kirsten, was similarly upbeat, stating he anticipated a “favourable outcome.” In response to a question, he stated that all-rounder Imad Wasim was now totally fit and may play against India.
“What happened two days ago is lost, forgotten, and irrevocable. In reference to the USA’s setback, he informed the reporters, “We move on.”
In the meantime, Rohit declared that his team will win the game over each and every over. In response to a question on the pitch, he stated that his squad would play as planned, regardless of the track behavior.
The captain continued, emphasizing that he was not depending on one or two players, saying, “We look to bat aggressively to get runs quickly because we are playing with eight batters.”
