DUBAI: India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli led the way with a brilliant half-century after the openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul provided a flying start to the side but Pakistan bowlers held their nerves calm to restrict the defending champions to 181/7 in the allotted 20 overs in the high-octane Super 4s clash of Asia Cup 2022.
India, after being put into bat first by Pakistan captain Babar Azam, were off to a flying start as they added 54 runs for the first wicket in just six overs.
The duo appeared solid and were scoring at a rapid pace before Haris Rauf struck in his second over to hand Pakistan a much-needed breakthrough in the form of KL Rahul, who departed after scoring 28 off 20 deliveries, laced with a boundary and two sixes.
Following his departure, Rohit’s stay at the crease also remained brief as he perished in the next over to Shadab Khan, who struck on the first delivery of his brilliant spell. The right-handed batter also scored 20 off 16 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and two sixes.
India’s veteran batter Virat then took the responsibility and held his ground while the rest of the batters failed to score significantly with all-rounder Deepak Hooda contributing the most with his brief knock of 16 runs.
Pakistan bowlers did well to halt India’s march into the game and restricted the defending champions to 181/7 in 20 overs.
Virat top-scored for the side with a magnificent knock of 60 off a mere 44 deliveries, laced with four boundaries and a six.
Shadab was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan as he returned with brilliant bowling figures of 2/31, while Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, and Haris struck out a batter each.
