Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and bowlers star as India crush Pakistan by 228 runs
Pakistan won the toss and opted to field
First Innings:
Indian openers get off to a strong start: Babar Azam’s decision to field first backfired as both Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off to a strong start as India posted 61/0 in the first powerplay.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
But what was the reason for the good start? Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s positive intent and aggressive batting. Despite early swing and seam movement, they attacked Pakistan’s bowlers, particularly Shaheen Afridi, and built a solid foundation. While Naseem Shah did trouble Rohit with his seam and swing, Rohit made up for the lack of runs against him in his first spell (Rohit scored only 12 in 24 balls with only two fours), by hitting Shadab Khan for 17 runs in his first over with two sixes, a single and a four. But what was the reason for Shadab Khan going for runs?
Shadab Khan’s expensive bowling stemmed from his defensive mindset and the pitch. While Gill was batting positively, Shadab also bowled two back to back short balls to Rohit Sharma offering him scoring opportunities and he capitalized by hitting sixes on both of them. And just like that, Shadab Khan had released all the pressure that Naseem Shah had created during his first spell. Plus the pitch had also become good for batting as the sun had come out thus making things easier for the Indian openers.
Pakistan makes a comeback as India lose two quick wickets: Even after going for 31 runs in his first two overs, Babar Azam continued to persist with Shadab Khan and it paid dividends for him as Shadab got the wicket of Rohit Sharma.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Just after that, Shaheen was brought back into the attack and he struck with the wicket of Shubman Gill.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
But why did India lose two quick wickets? It was more because of the batsman’s error rather than the bowler getting him out. Rohit chipped the ball over cover and wanted to hit in the gap between cover and long off but he hit it a lot straighter and gave a simple catch to Faheem Ashraf at long off. As for Gill’s wicket, credit should be given to Shaheen Afridi as he cleverly bowled the slower ball instead of bowling the pace on delivery which deceived Gill and he was caught by Agha Salman in the covers region. Both Rohit and Gill scored 56 and 58 respectively as India slipped from 61/0 to 123/2. But both the openers had done their job and laid the perfect platform for India to score 300 plus runs.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul torment Pakistan even further: No more play was possible on the first day as India ended the day on 147/2 after 24.1 overs with Rahul and Kohli not out on 17 and 7 respectively as the game went into the reserve day. When the game resumed on the reserve day (which also started late due to rain), both Rahul and Kohli took their time to settle down as there was seam and swing available for the Pakistan pacers due to the moisture in the pitch because of the rain earlier. But soon both Rahul and Kohli got their eye in and started to dominate the Pakistan bowling. They specifically targeted Iftikhar Ahmed (who had to fill in for an injured Haris Rauf) and Shadab Khan as they shared an unbeaten partnership of 233 runs for the third wicket and also scored their respective centuries in the process (6th for Rahul and 47th for Virat in ODI Cricket) as India scored 356/2 in their 50 overs.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
But what was the reason for this domination? Overcast conditions and the potential for rain led them to accelerate the scoring against the spinners.
Rahul and Virat target pacers as well: Both Shaheen Afridi (who had already been hit for runs by Rohit and Gill and was going at above 7 runs an over) and Faheem Ashraf (who had only given 42 runs in his eight overs) were also targetted by Rahul and Virat when they got set. But why did the pacers also go for runs? Pakistan’s pacers struggled due to an older ball, and fielding lapses allowed India to convert singles into doubles.
Naseem Shah bowls his heart out: Amidst all the hammering that the Pakistan bowlers received, Naseem Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he had the lowest economy rate of 5.7 and even though he couldn’t pick up a wicket, he mixed his pace well using his variations and slower balls effectively against both Virat and Rahul.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Second Innings:
Jasprit Bumrah strikes early: Pakistan’s innings did not start on a good note as Jasprit Bumrah marked his triumphant return to ODI Cricket and picked up an early wicket in the form of Imam Ul Haq. But what was the reason for the early wicket? The swing and seam movement. There was plenty on offer for the fast bowlers as both Bumrah and Siraj beat the edges of the openers on multiple occassions and even though Siraj couldn’t pick up a wicket, he played the holding role perfectly and supported Jasprit Bumrah well as Pakistan scored 43/1 in the first powerplay.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Pakistan’s innings never took off: Pakistan were never in the game as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. After the fall of the first wicket, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur struck in quick succession as Pakistan lost their Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan cheaply due to similar swinging conditions and just like that 43/1 soon became 47/3.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
Amidst all this chaos, Fakhar Zaman was holding one end up. But he too was struggling to time the ball and his lack of form since the past month was clearly showing.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
The Kuldeep Yadav show: Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack in the 17th over of the chase and he ripped through Pakistan’s middle and lower order in a flash as Pakistan slipped from 47/3 to 128/10 (with Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah not coming out to bat due to their injuries) and even though Agha Salman and Iftikhar Ahmed scored 23 runs each, it was too big a task for Pakistan to chase 357 runs.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-pakistan-9th-match-super-four-1388406/match-photo
But what was the reason for this collapse? The pitch. Kuldeep was spinning the ball both ways and was extracting appreciable turn from the pitch and all the swing and seam movement seemed to have vanished all of a sudden and the pitch seemed to have dried up after all the rain that it had soaked in.
Collective performance from the Indian bowlers: It was a complete performance from the Indian bowlers as all the bowlers except Mohammed Siraj chipped in with wickets. First Bumrah took the wicket of Imam and then Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur nipped out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in quick succession. From there on, Kuldeep Yadav took center stage as he picked up a five wicket haul. He picked the wickets of Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf as India won the game by 228 runs.
Stat Alert: Fakhar Zaman averages only 9.66 against Kuldeep Yadav and has been dismissed thrice by him in three innings.
Pakistan would have a lot to ponder upon after a crushing defeat in this game. But what the difference between the two sides today? The difference between the teams was evident in fielding, catching, and the intent to score runs. India capitalized on their chances and improved fielding, while Pakistan struggled with their batting intent.
In summary, India’s aggressive batting, strong partnership between Rahul and Kohli, effective bowling, and superior fielding led to a dominant win over Pakistan. This win should give India a lot of confidence just before the start of a home World Cup and they would also be buoyed by the return of KL Rahul who put all his doubters to rest after the magnificent ton!
Brief scores:
India- 356/2 (Virat Kohli- 122*, KL Rahul- 111*, Shubman Gill- 58, Rohit Sharma- 56, Shaheen Afridi- 1/79, Shadab Khan- 1/71)
Pakistan- 128/10 (Fakhar Zaman- 27, Agha Salman- 23, Iftikhar Ahmed- 23, Kuldeep Yadav- 5/25, Jasprit Bumrah- 1/18, Hardik Pandya- 1/17, Shardul Thakur- 1/16)
Note: The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. I do not own any of these images. These images have been used to depict what happened during the match.