ICC World Cup 2023, IND vs. PAK: Rohit and bowlers stars as India defeat Pakistan by 7 wickets

New Delhi: India has maintained their perfect ODI World Cup record as they defeated the arch-rivals with 7 wickets and 117 balls to spare to extend their record to 8-0, India also goes to the top of the points table with this win.

India came out to bat with an attacking intent as Subhman Gill and Rohit Sharma both opened their accounts with a boundary.

Subhman Gill (16), who was returning from illness, scored 4 boundaries in the first two overs before getting dismissed by Shaheen Afridi.

Virat Kohli (16), also departed inside the 10 overs mark after completing 50 runs partnership alongside Rohit Sharma.

The in-form skipper Rohit Sharma (86) went on to add 77 more runs for the third wicket and almost ensured India’s victory before getting dismissed by Shaheen Afridi, just like his opening partner.

In the end, Shreyas Iyer (53*) and KL Rahul (19*) got the job done for India by reaching the 192 runs mark in the 31st over.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was Pakistan’s most successful bowler, with 2 wickets under his name, while Hasan Ali also got one wicket.

Earlier, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Babar Azam and company to bat first.

Pakistan started their innings in a positive manner, adding 41 runs for the first wicket.

Abdul Shafique (20) was the first one to depart. Soon, his opening partner Imam ul Haq (36) joined him in the pavilion, reducing the Pakistani innings to 73 for 2.

However, the skipper Babar Azam (50) and Md. Rizwan (49), added 82 runs for the third wicket, taking the men in green to a comfortable position of 155 for 2, but as soon as Siraj dismissed the Pakistani skipper, the whole team fell down like a pack of cards as they lost their last 8 wickets for just 36 runs, setting a below par target of 192 for the men in blue.

Kuldeep, Bumrah, Jadeja, Siraj and Hardik all took two wickets each to dismantle the Pakistani batting line-up and give their batsmen a comparatively easy job to maintain their perfect World Cup record against Pakistan.

Score summary:

Batting (1st innings)

Pakistan:  191/10 (42.5 overs)- Babar Azam- 50 (58), Md. Rizwan 49 (69)

Bowling (1st innings)

India- Bumrah- 2/19 (7 overs), Kuldeep- 2/35 (10 overs)

Batting (2nd innings)

India: 192/3 (30.3 overs)- Rohit Sharma- 86 (63), Shreyas Iyer-  53* (62)

Bowling (2nd innings)

Pakistan: Shaheen Afridi- 2/36 (6 overs), Hasan Ali- 1/34 (6 overs)

Key moments:

Fifty for Iyer and a win for India

Shreyas Iyer brings up his 13th ODI fifty to give India their eighth ODI World Cup win against Pakistan

Rohit departs

The Indian skipper missed his well-deserved century as he departed on 86.

Fifty partnership up

Another 50-run partnership for India as Rohit and Iyer complete their 50-run partnership.

53rd ODI fifty for Rohit

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma completed his 53rd ODI fifty in the 14th over.

Ali gets Kohli

Virat Kohli couldn’t convert his good start as he departed on 16 off Hasan Ali’s ball.

Hit-man on the roll

Rohit Sharma picked up from where he left off in the last match as he scored 2 sixes in Haris Rauf’s over to bring up 50 runs partnership for the second wicket with Kohli.

Afridi picked apart

Indian batsmen finally decided to go behind Shaheen Afridi as they scored 15 runs in his fourth over.

Shaheen gets the big fish

Shaheen Afridi draws the first blood for Pakistan as Subhman Gill departs on 16.

Subhman Gill unleashed

Subhman Gill is making an early statement in his World Cup debut as he gets four boundaries in the first two overs of the game.

Jadeja completes the clean-up

Jadeja dismisses Haris Rauf to end the Pakistani batting woes on 191.

Jadeja joins the party

Jadeja joins the wickets party as he dismisses Hasan Ali on 12.

Hardik gets his second

Hardik finally gets his second wicket as Md. Nawaz departs at 4.

Pakistan in shock

Bumrah strikes again as Shadab departs on 2.

Pakistan in trouble

Pakistan slipped from 155/2 to 168/6 as the control of the match now shifted towards the blue corner.

Boom Boom Bumrah

Md. Rizwan has been denied his fifty by just 1 run as Bumrah gets his first wicket of the match.

Two in one over for Kuldeep

Iftikhar got played down as Kuldeep gets his second wicket of the over.

Finally, a DRS in India’s favour

After three unsuccessful attempts, India finally gets one DRS in their favour, as Kuldeep traps Saud to give India their fourth success.

World number 1 strikes again

Siraj strikes again as danger-looking Babar departs.

Fifty for Babar

Pakistani skipper is leading from the front as he completes his 29th ODI fifty in the 29th over.

Fifty partnership up

Babar and Rizwan completed a fifty-run partnership, Pakistan slowly taking control.

Rizwan changes gears

Md. Rizwan has started to shift gears as he gets back-to-back boundaries off Jadeja.

Captain Babar takes the charge

Babar Azam kept the Pakistani innings steady after two quick wickets.

DRS saves Rizwan

Md. Rizawan had to use drs to save himself after being given lbw against Jadeja.

Hardik gets his man

Hardik Pandya gets his first wicket as Imam departs on 36.

Comeback from Siraj

Md. Siraj comes back strong after getting hit for boundaries by dismissing Shafique on 20.