Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan PapnaiDhaka: India dominated the proceedings throughout the match against arch-rivals Pakistan to win their opening game of World Twenty20 quite comprehensively by seven wickets.
India decided to bowl first after winning the toss. And soon India got their first breakthrough when Kamran Akmal got run-out in the second over of the match. In the first five overs, Indian bowlers contained the Pakistani batsmen from scoring runs freely.
At one stage, when the partnership for the second wicket between Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad was looking dangerous, Dhoni`s go-to bowler, Ravindra Jadeja gave India their second wicket in the form of Mohammad Hafeez.
From there on Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never got the momentum going their way. Though, in the end Sohaib Maqsood played a cameo of 21 runs from 12 balls, Pakistan only managed to put up a small total of 130 runs in front of India.
All three Indian spinners – Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin bowled their hearts out.
When India came to chase the total, both the openers – Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma – gave a solid start up-front, as they added 54 runs for the first wicket in eight overs. However, India then lost three quick wickets within a space of 14 balls.
Then, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina came to the rescue and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 66 runs for the fourth wicket to take India home, with nine balls to spare.
It was a thumping victory for India over their bitter rivals Pakistan, who were believed to have a more balanced team than the `Men in Blue`. This win will definitely give Indians the much needed confidence ahead of their next fixture against the defending champions, West Indies on Sunday.
First Published: Saturday, March 22, 2014, 08:54
