DUBAI: Mohammad Rizwan hit an attacking 71 as Pakistan beat India by five wickets in a last-over Super Four thriller at the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.

Chasing 182 for victory, Pakistan achieved their target with one ball to spare thanks to an inspirational 73-run stand between Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz (42).

Rizwan was out in the 17th over after his second successive half-century in the tournament, but Khushdil Shah, with his unbeaten 14, and Asif Ali, who made 16 off eight balls, made sure Pakistan got over the line against Arshdeep Singh.

Reprieved after Arshdeep dro­p­ped an easy catch at short third man, Asif hit a six and two fours before falling with two balls left, leaving Iftikhar Ahmed to knock off the remaining two runs.

Earlier, Virat Kohli’s 60 guided India to 181-7 after being put in to bat.

Pakistan started their chase cautiously and lost skipper Babar Azam for 14 as leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi lured the batsman into a chip straight to mid-wicket.

The in-form Rizwan, who made 43 and 78 in the previous two matches, hit back with three boundaries off pace bowler Hardik Pandya and a six in the next over.

He put on 41 runs with Fakhar Zaman, who played a scratchy knock of 13 before falling to Yuzvendra Chahal’s leg spin.

Pakistan promoted the left-handed Nawaz, primarily a spinner, in the batting order to push the scoring and he delivered by promptly hitting a four and a six.

Rizwan, who hurt himself keeping wickets after landing awkwardly on his right leg but was able to continue, anchored the innings and reached fifty in 37 balls.

Nawaz smashed five fours and two sixes in his 20-ball blitz and stood firm with Rizwan before getting out to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Pandya removed Rizwan as India sensed a turnaround, but the left-handed Khushdil and Asif pulled off the chase as Pakistan avenged their loss to India in the group stage.

Middle-order stutter

Star batsman Kohli, who hit 60 off 44 balls before being run out in the final over, helped India survive a middle-order stutter to post a competitive total.

He reached his 32nd half-century in 36 balls with a six off pace bowler Mohammad Hasnain amid chants of “Kohli, Kohli” at a packed stadium.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma came out all guns blazing to smash pace bowler Naseem Shah for a six and four in the opening over of the match.

Opening partner K.L. Rahul soon took the cue to whack Naseem for two cracking blows over the fence.

The openers put on 54 runs briskly and attempted to make full use of the power play, when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle, by hitting lofted shots. But Rohit fell when he mistimed Haris Rauf.

Khushdil Shah clung on to a sky-high catch as Rohit went back after scoring 28 off 16 balls in the sixth over.

Shadab struck in the next over to cut short Rahul’s stay on 28 and then left-arm orthodox spinner Mohammad Nawaz removed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav for 13.

Kohli, who has slowly come out of his lean patch with scores of 35 and 59 in the previous two matches, kept the score ticking and got the occasional boundary.

But Pakistan kept chipping away with wickets, including the left-handed Rishabh Pant for 14 and Hardik Pandya for a second-ball duck off Hasnain.

Ravi Bishnoi finished off the innings with two boundaries as Fakhar Zaman faltered twice in the deep, including dropping a catch that reached the ropes.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan stood out with figures of 2-31 from his four overs.

Scoreboard

INDIA:

K.L. Rahul c Nawaz b Shadab 28

R. Sharma c Khushdil b Haris 28

V. Kohli run out (Asif) 60

S. Yadav c Asif b Nawaz 13

R. Pant c Asif b Shadab 14

H. Pandya c Nawaz b Hasnain 0

D. Hooda c Nawaz b Naseem 16

R. Bishnoi not out 8

EXTRAS (B-4, W-10) 14

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 20 overs) 181

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-54 (Sharma), 2-62 (Rahul), 3-91 (Yadav), 4-126 (Pant), 5-131 (Pandya), 6-168 (Hooda), 7-173 (Kohli)

DID NOT BAT: B. Kumar, Y. Chahal, A. Singh

BOWLING: Naseem 4-0-45-1, Hasnain 4-0-38-1 (3w), Haris 4-0-38-1(2w), Nawaz 4-0-25-1, Shadab 4-0-31-2 (1w)

PAKISTAN:

Mohammad Rizwan c Yadav b Pandya 71

Babar Azam c Sharma b Bishnoi 14

Fakhar Zaman c Kohli b Chahal 15

Mohammad Nawaz c Hooda b Kumar 42

Khushdil Shah not out 14

Asif Ali lbw b Singh 16

Iftikhar Ahmed not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-6) 8

TOTAL (for five wickets, 19.5 overs) 182

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-22 (Babar), 2-63 (Fakhar), 3-136 (Nawaz), 4-147 (Rizwan), 5-180 (Asif)

DID NOT BAT: Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah

BOWLING: Kumar 4-0-40-1 (2w), Singh 3.5-0-27-1, Bishnoi 4-0-26-1 (3w), Pandya 4-0-44-1 (1w), Chahal 4-0-43-1

RESULT: Pakistan won by five wickets.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2022