New Delhi: India crushed arch-rival Pakistan by a huge margin of 228 runs to register their first victory in the second round of the Aisa Cup 2023 on Monday. With the humongous win, India now officially stands right at the top of the points table. The rain-affected match lasted for almost two days and was finally completed on reserve day after the play of the first day was called off due to hostile weather.
Pakistan, before the start of the day, suffered a major blow in the form of Haris Rauf, who was advised not to bowl to avoid increasing the inflammation in his oblique muscle.
Earlier, on Sunday, India was invited to bat first by Pakistani skipper Babar Azam. India accepted the invitation by both hands with early dominance through the help of openers Rohit Sharma (56) and Shubhman Gill (58) before the match was interrupted by the rain and postponed to reserve day on Monday.
Brief score: IND: 356/2 (50) vs Pak: 128 (32) all out
Top performers: India: Virat Kohli 122* (94), KL Rahul 111* (106), Kuldeep Yadav: 5/25 (8)
Top performers: Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman 27 (50), Salman Agha 23 (32), Shadab Khan 1/71 (10)
Key Highlights:
11:00:PM: Kuldeep gets Faheem Ashraf and just like that, Indian bowlers have cleared Pakistan’s tail within no time with Kuldeep Yadav leading from the front with his exceptional fifer 5/25. Pakistan got all out on a small total of 128 and even though they lost only 8 wickets and still had 2 retired hurt players Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf left, the match ended with the 8 wicket fall as none of the retired players walked out to Bat.
10:55:PM: Another one bites the dust as Kuldeep Yadav breathes fire with his spell. His fourth victim is Iftikhar Ahmed who lost his wicket in an attempt to clear the ground but was caught in the deep. Iftikhar scored a gritty 23 off 35 balls and is the 7th Pakistani batsman to walk towards the dugout.
10: 45: PM: Pakistan’s wickets are now falling like a stack of cards. The last man to go is Shadab Khan who threw away his wicket on Kuldeep Yadav’s delivery in the 28th over. This is the third wicket for the Indian Spinner.
10:30 PM: The game is now looking one-sided as half of the Pakistani team is already in the dugout and they have still got 249 runs to chase with just 138 deliveries left. Kuldeep Yadav has shown the pavilion to recently Injured Agah Salman who left the field after adding 23 runs and played 32 deliveries.
10:15 PM: Agah Salman gets a brutal hit on the eye, KL Rahul, medical staff rushes to his aid.
10:10 PM: Kuldeep’s googly ends Fakhar’s sluggish innings as he walks towards the dressing room after making 27 of 50 balls in the 20th over. Pakistan are now four wickets down.
TIMBERRRR! 💥@imkuldeep18 puts himself in the wickets column, foxing ace batter @FakharZamanLive!
Huge blow for #Pakistan.Can #TeamIndia wrap this up soon?
Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/giFQcgKRdG
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 11, 2023
9:57 PM: Kuldeep was brought into the Attack for the first time and he almost did the trick by getting an edge of the bat of Fakhar Zaman which was dropped in the slips by the Indian captain.
9:36 PM: 50 comes for Pakistan as Agha Salman and Fakhar Zaman try to hang on in the middle and stabilise Pak’s sluggish inning.
9:29 PM: Wicket number 3 comes for India as Rizwan nicks it to the keeper and loses his wicket after scoring 2 of 5 balls. Shardul gets his first wicket.
9:20 PM: Pakistan resumes their chase and their target remains the same. No overs lost.
9:15 PM: Covers are off and players are walking back into the field. All three umpires are back on the ground as well and Pakistan’s chase is expected to resume at 9:20 PM
8:20 PM: Rain has entered the Premadasa Cricket Ground (Colombo) once again and covers are being brought to the ground. Pakistan must be relieved by the rain delay as Indian bowlers completely dominated their batsman and kept them on the backfoot throughout the Powerplay.
Barso re megha megha
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 11, 2023
8:06 PM: Babar Azam falls against Hardik Pandya’s in-swinger in the 11th over. He made 10 Runs and played 24 balls.
Massive moment in the game! 🤯@hardikpandya7 swung them big, eventually knocking @babarazam258‘s stumps over!
HUGE wicket in the context of the game! #TeamIndia on 🔝Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/2w59Vv1mSi
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 11, 2023
7:47 PM: Imam falls early in the fifth over as Pakistan struggles to face Jasprit Bumrah’s fierce spell. He scored 9 runs on 18 deliveries.
BOOM BOOM BUMRAH! 💥
Ball in hand for the first time this tournament, @Jaspritbumrah93 takes no time to make an impact! 😍#TeamIndia get their opening wicket.
Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/GWnLcI8oWv
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 11, 2023
7:15 PM: Pakistan began the chase, Target: 357 runs in 50 overs
Innings Break!
A brilliant opening partnership between @ImRo45 & @ShubmanGill, followed by a stupendous 233* run partnership between @imVkohli & @klrahul as #TeamIndia post a total of 356/2 on the board.
Scorecard – https://t.co/kg7Sh2t5pM… #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/2eu66WTKqz
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 11, 2023
India resumed their innings from 147 for 2 in 24.1 overs. However, Pakistan did not get the start they wanted one more time as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul took the Pakistani bowling unit on remand and etched a not-out 227 runs partnership to take India to a mammoth total of 356 for 2 on completion of 50 overs.
KL Rahul silenced his critiques with a magnificent unbeaten ton of 111 runs from 106 deliveries and proved his selection for the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup Squad correct.
Virat Kohli, on the other hand, had an iconic day himself. He completed his 47th ODI and 77th international hundred. Virat also became the fastest player to reach 13000 ODI runs in just 267 innings, he broke the record of the ‘God of Cricket,’ Sachin Tendulkar himself, who reached this milestone in 321 innings.
Indian batsmen have made amends for their Knady horror show and will now put their trust in their bowlers to get the job done.
1st innings-
Batting-
India- 356/2 (50 overs)
Virat Kohli- 122*(94)
KL Rahul -111* (106)
Bowling-
Shadab Khan- 1/71 (10 overs)
Shaheen Afridi- 1/79 (10 overs)
Live Updates:
Key Moments:
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India gets their joint-highest ODI total against Pakistan.
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Naseem Shah leaves the field with an injury, and Iftikhar completes his over.
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Virat Kohli and KL Rahul complete their 200-run partnership.
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Virat Kohli becomes the fastest to 13000 ODI runs
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Virat Kohli brings up his 47th ODI hundred in 48th over.
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KL Rahul brings up his 6th ODI hundred in 47th over.
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Kohli picked apart Iftikar in the 43rd over and collected 16 runs off the over.
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Virat Kohli completes his 66th ODI fifty in the 39th over
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KL Rahul brings up his 14th ODI fifty in the 34th over.
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KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are leading the innings with a steady approach.
