India-Pak T20 World Cup 2022: Kohli blitzkrieg helps India win Melbourne nail-biter

MELBOURNE,OCT. 23: A Virat Kohli blitzkrieg helped India defeat Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on Sunday. India needed 16 of the last 5 balls and 5 of 3 balls. Finally, it was 2 of 2 balls when Dinesh Karthik was stumped by Rizwan. However, Ravichandran Ashwin walked in and lofted one which was full and around off to seal the fate and break Pakistan’s heart.

Chasing a total of 159/8, India lost four early wickets before Kohli joined Pandya to prop up the score.

Earlier, half-centuries by Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed helped Pakistan cross 150.

Hardik Pandya took two wickets in the 14th over and another wicket in the 16th to help India restrict the score.

Rohit Sharma lauded Hardik and Kohli saying they were brilliant. They are experienced players and they took the game as deep as possible. He said it is a confidence boosting win and from where they won is more pleasing and it is probably Kohli’s best knock ever.

Babar Azam said their bowlers bowled well but credit to Kohli and Pandya as they stole the game.

Earlier, India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against arch-rival Pakistan in their opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup Super 12 at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Powerhouse India have largely dominated Pakistan since the late 1990s but have lost two of their three previous clashes, including by 10 wickets in the group phase at last year’s T20 World Cup.

And while Sharma’s side are ranked world number one, they haven’t lifted the T20 trophy since 2007, failing to reach the semi-finals last year.

They are without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, with Mohammed Shami starting in his place.

For 2009 champions Pakistan, batsman Shan Masood has recovered and takes his place after being hit on the head during a practice session last week.

But fellow batsman Fakhar Zaman was omitted, yet to fully recover from a knee injury.

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh,

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)

Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

-TNIE