Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan scored fluent fifties after Shaheen Afridi stared with the new ball as Pakistan beat India in a World Cup match at the 13th attempt with a crunching 10-wicket win.
Pakistan had lost all 12 of their previous World Cup matches against India, with seven defeats in the 50-over competition and five losses in the 20-over version, including in the inaugural T20 final back in 2007.
That barren run was snapped in style on Sunday, with skipper Babar (68no off 52 balls) and Rizwan (79no off 55) putting on an unbroken 152 as the 2009 champions topped India’s 151-7 with 13 balls to spare.
Left-arm quick Shaheen (3-31) had earlier struck twice inside the first three overs before returning later on to dismiss Virat Kohli (57 off 49), whose pre-tournament favourites were humbled by their Group 2 rivals.
Shaheen gave Pakistan a dream start, pinning Rohit Sharma (0) lbw for a golden duck in his first over and then bowling KL Rahul (3) with a quick nip-backer in his third as India tumbled to 6-2 after being inserted.
That became 31-3 when Suryakumar Yadav (11) edged Hasan Ali behind while attempting a back-foot punch and Pakistan wicketkeeper Rizwan leapt to his right to claim a fine catch.
India’s innings was revived by Rishabh Pant (39 off 30) and Kohli’s 53-run stand - Pant the dominant force in it, hitting two sixes with one hand off the bat before he slog-swept back to bowler Shadab Khan (1-22).
Kohli, who had earlier clubbed Shaheen for a masterful six over long-on, completed a 45-ball, 29th T20I fifty while bossing a 41-run alliance with Ravindra Jadeja (13 off 13) for the fifth wicket.
Kohli was eventually dismissed for the first time by Pakistan in a T20 World Cup when he edged Shaheen’s slower-ball bouncer behind on the pull in the penultimate over.
Shaheen’s over went wrong after that, going for 17 in total, as Hardik Pandya (11 off 8) carved a no-ball full toss for four and then, from the resulting free hit, Shaheen missed with his shy at the non-striker’s stumps and watched on as the ball scuttled away to the boundary.
Haris Rauf (1-25) clawed things back with a seven-run final over, which included Pandya’s wicket, before Babar and Rizwan gave Pakistan a steady start to the chase, nailing their fifty partnership in the eighth over.
Pakistan were going at around 6.50 runs an over at that stage but then accelerated with the 13th over, bowled by leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy, seeing a six apiece from Babar and Rizwan.
Babar’s six off Chakravarthy took him to a 40-ball, 21st T20 international fifty, while Rizwan clinched his ninth from 41 deliveries when he pulled Jasprit Bumrah for four in the 15th over.
Rizwan began Mohammed Shami’s 18th over with a six and two fours, before Babar sealed his team’s thumping victory with a scampered two to long-on as Pakistan inflicted a first 10-wicket T20I defeat on India.
Source: Sky Sports
