The heroic firework led to a half-century stand between all-rounders Hardik Pandya (33 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (29 balls 35) took India past the final line in the nail-biting last over encounter.
With seven required in the last over, India lost the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja in the first delivery of Mohammad Nawaz which didn’t turn out to be big trouble for the Indian side as Hardik Pandya’s powerful punch in the fourth delivery cleared easily over the fence in the long on to give a much-needed opening win in Asia’s biggest cricketing battle.
Winning the toss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma invited the arch-rivals to bat in the much-awaited iconic encounter. Batting first the Babar Azam-led side posted an average fighting total of 147 after getting bowled out with a ball to spare.
Indian seamers justified their presence in the high voltage encounter with an impressive attack and all the 10 wickets shared by the 4 speedsters including 3 for Hardik Pandya who marked his return to the international arena by leading the side on tour to Ireland.
Bowling first India lost its first review in the last bowl of the 1st over in an attempt to get rid of Pakistani keeper Mohammad Rizwan on Bhuvneshwar’s attack.
However, that didn’t upset the Indian side much as Bhuvneshwar returned in the next over to send the Pakistan skipper and dangerous Babar Azam back to the pavilion with a top edge on a short delivery from the veteran seamer that came down easily in the hands of Arshdeep Singh at the short fine leg.
The bouncer seemed a go-to plan for the Indian seamers as the execution brought wickets and all 10 went in the pacers’ kitty. A vintage Bhuvneshwar Kumar act was on display with four wickets in the credit.
India made a slow start in the run chase with the early departure of KL Rahul to an in-swinging length delivery from Naseem Shah.
The Indian run-chase faced a huge blow in the middle after the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell in succession on two consecutive overs of Mohammad Nawaz.
India’s new batting star Surya Kumar Yadav didn’t have much to show as he departed soon bringing Pandya into the scene of the run chase only to tow his side past the victory line.
Veteran Dinesh Karthik who started ahead of Rishab Pant didn’t get the chance to put his heroic finishing role on display.