Pandya stars with all-round performance as India sink Pakistan in a thriller

DUBAI: Indian pacemaker Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone with the ball on four wickets before all-rounder Hardik Pandya took India to the line in a cliffhanger final against Pakistan with a hard unbeaten strike in the high-octane Asia Cup 2022 clash .

The Pakistani bowlers did extremely well in making it difficult for India to chase 148 in 20 overs, but Pandya kept her nerves calm when she hit a short delivery from Mohammad Nawaz to propel India to claim their first victory in the current tournament.

The men in blue got off to a dismal start to their career when debutant Naseem Shah castled KL Rahul for a golden duck in the first over.

The experienced pairing of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma then took on the responsibility and anchored India with a significant 49-run partnership for the second wicket.

Kohli looked solid in the middle of the rostrum while Rohit struggled to score at a fast pace and ultimately fell victim to Pakistan’s choice of bowlers, Nawaz. He scored just 12 of 18 deliveries.

The brilliant Nawaz then turned the game around in his next over as he eliminated dangerous man Kohli for 35 in the first installment as Pakistan cut India to 53/3 in the tenth over.

World No. 2 Suryakumar Yadav had a forgetful outing with the bat when he hit an 18 at a snail’s pace before Naseem castled him at 15; forcing India to fall further to 89/4.

India’s match hero Pandya then joined Jadeja at crease and formed a match-defining partnership for the fifth wicket. The duo added a valuable 52 runs in accordance with the mount’s required run rate.

Jadeja’s dismissal from Nawaz in the first installment of the final gave a thrilling late turn to the match and she sadly regressed despite top scoring for the team with 35 out of 29 deliveries, laced with two sixes and as many bounds.

However, Pakistan’s turnaround and return to the game was interrupted on the fourth throw when Pandya fired a shorter Nawaz throw over the long limit to seal a thrilling opening win for the defending champions.

Nawaz led Pakistan’s bowling attack with three wickets while Naseem remained impressive with his two on debut.

In the draw, India invited Pakistan to bat first in the most talked about clash of the 2022 Asian Cup underway.

After being batted first, Pakistan got off to the worst possible start as the team lost their key batsman Babar Azam narrowly for 10 amid a slow start.

Left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman then teamed up briefly with Mohammad Rizwan and brought Pakistan close to fifty to the brink of the power play before the former fell victim to a short ball for 10.

Rizwan then joined Iftikhar Ahmed and began the comeback with a 45-run partnership for third wicket. Iftikhar looked solid and was scoring at a brisk pace before another short ball did the trick for India and he returned to the pavilion after scoring 28.

After his departure, Rizwan’s stay was also brief, as he, too, was killed courtesy of a short ball from Pandya in the 15th. He remained the top scorer for his team with 43 of 42 balls, tied with four caps and a six.

The Green Shirts then began losing wickets at an alarming rate and soon slipped to 128/9 in the 19th.

However, Shahnawaz Dahani’s quick cameo of 16 runs in just six deliveries bolstered the team to amass 147 before being eliminated in the final.

Bhuvneshwar led the bowling attack for India with four wickets while Pandya followed with three.

Arshdeep Singh, on the other hand, pockets two wickets.