DUBAI: The Indian pace attack on Sunday took all 10 wickets in a T20I match for the very first time. The pacers did this during their blockbuster Asia Cup 2022 campaign opener match against Pakistan.
The Indian pacers were breathing fire throughout the match, and they did not let Pakistan batters settle at the crease and stitch lengthy partnerships.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar started the party of Indian speedsters by getting the big fish, Babar Azam, for just 10 off 9 balls during the powerplay. He ended with figures of 4/26, getting wickets of lower middle-order batters/tailenders like Shadab Khan (10), Asif Ali (9) and Naseem Shah (0) as well, which put brakes on Pakistan’s run-scoring.
Hardik Pandya also delivered big time with his pace, taking 3/25. He took important wickets of Iftikhar Ahmed (28). With the wicket of Ahmed, he ended a potentially dangerous stand between Rizwan and Ahmed for the third wicket, which reduced Pakistan to 87/3. He further dismissed Mohammed Rizwan (43) and Khusdil Shah (2) which broke the back of Pakistan’s middle order, reducing them to 5/97.
Avesh Khan dismissed Fakhar Zaman for just 10 off 6 balls after he edged the ball which landed into wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik’s gloves. He finished with 1/19 in 2 overs.
Lastly, young left-arm medium pacer Arshdeep Singh impressed in his first match against arch-rivals, taking 2/33 in 3.5 overs. He dismissed Mohammad Nawaz (1) and Shahnawaz Dahani (16).
Coming to the match, Pakistan were bundled out for 148 in 19.4 overs. Opener Mohammed Rizwan (43) and Iftikhar Ahmed (28) were the only ones who could contribute something decent with the bat. The pace and short-length deliveries of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26), Hardik Pandya (3/25) and Arshdeep Singh (2/33) and Avesh Khan (1/19) blew away Pakistani batters and wickets fell at a regular rate.
Chasing 149, India lost K L Rahul for a duck in the very first over. After this, Virat Kohli (35) anchored the innings and formed a 49-run stand with skipper Rohit Sharma (12), who largely struggled at the other end. Twin strikes from Mohammed Nawaz, who took Sharma and Kohli’s wickets restricted India to 3/53.
Following this, a 36-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav helped move the scoreboard, before Suryakumar fell to debutant Naseem Shah for 18. A 52-run stand between Jadeja (35) and Hardik Pandya (33*) followed, which took India close to a win and in-form Pandya finished the proceedings with a six with two balls to spare, giving India a five-wicket win.
Nawaz (3/33) and Naseem Shah (2/27) bowled really well for Pakistan, though not enough to give them a win.
Pandya was adjudged as ‘Man of the Match’ for his all-round performance. (ANI)