Virat Kohli's men overwhelm Pakistan yet again in ICC World Cup cricket's most-watched contest at football-crazy Manchester; Rohit slams super ton
India's captain Virat Kohli is all smiles after beating Pakistan in a World Cup group game in Manchester yesterday. Pic/AFP
Manchester: The Indian team gave a capital performance to outplay arch-rivals Pakistan in the much-awaited World Cup game at Old Trafford. India won by 89 runs via Duckworth-Lewis System. Pakistan ended the game at 212-6 in 40 overs after being set a revised target of 302 in 40 overs. Earlier, India had to overcome not only tricky rivals but also the elements to maintain their unbeaten record against them in the World Cup history.
It was the seventh time they had defeated them in World Cup, beginning in 1992. With Rohit Sharma scoring another brilliant century (140), his second in this World Cup, the first in the opening game against South Africa, and his crucial alliances with fellow-opener KL Rahul and Virat Kohli , India were able to post an imposing total of 336-5, which in the end proved beyond the reach of Pakistan despite a century stand between Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam. Once the two were take care of by Kuldeep Yadav in quick succession, India had virtually sealed the fate of the match, despite rains causing havoc.
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This was India's third win in four games, with the match against New Zealand being washed out. They are well on the way to assure a berth in the semi-finals while for Pakistan it will struggle to finish in the top-four. India can celebrate their win over the next few days as their next match against Afghanistan is on June 22. By then, they will hope that Bhuveneshwar Kumar, who strained his hamstring here, will recover in time, else Mohammed Shami is on the bench and could make his first appearance in this World Cup.
Pakistan put India in to bat expecting their bowlers to exploit the moisture in the pitch in overcast conditions, as they knew if they could get rid of the top three Indian batsmen they could well have an upper hand. But that was not to be. In the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan, It was up to Rohit Sharma to give India a solid start when the conditions were conducive for seam bowling. Early loss of wickets would have put tremendous pressure on the batsmen to follow. But Sharma was in fluent form right from the beginning to produce another gem of an innings. With Rahul and Kohli getting half-centuries, India had enough moment to cross the 330-mark, despite the rain interruption. The India bowlers too did well despite Bhuvneshwar bowling only 2.4 overs before walking off due to hamstring strain. So, the scoreline against Pakistan at World Cup is 7-0.
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