India 356 for 2 (Kohli 122*, Rahul 111*, Shadab 1-71) beat Pakistan128 (Fakhar 27, Kuldeep 5-25) by 228 runs
KL Rahul unexpectedly started in the match against Pakistan when Shreyas Iyer suffered back spasms during warm-ups. Rahul made a remarkable comeback on the reserve day with a sensational hundred. At the same time, Virat Kohli scored his own century, leading India to a total score of 356 for 2.
Jasprit Bumrah returned to ODIs for the first time after his injury break and troubled Pakistan’s top order with his swing and seam movement. He was nearly unplayable at times. Mohammed Siraj also added pressure on Pakistan with his accuracy. After Bumrah had Imam-ul-Haq caught in the slips, Hardik Pandya continued the dominant bowling performance by dismissing Babar Azam. Kuldeep Yadav then further compounded Pakistan’s troubles, finishing with figures of 5 for 25 in eight overs. The victory margin of 228 runs was the largest for India against Pakistan in ODI cricket.
India resumed from an overnight score of 147 for 2 and added 209 runs on the reserve day, with Rahul and Kohli leading the charge. This was only the fourth instance of India’s top four batsmen making fifty-plus scores in an ODI. Without Haris Rauf, who was absent as a precautionary measure, Pakistan couldn’t break the partnership between Rahul and Kohli. Pakistan also faced another setback when Naseem left the field during the 49th over. This was the first time Naseem went wicketless in 14 ODIs.
Pakistan had the chance to dismiss Kohli when he was on 60, but Naseem misjudged a catch at deep third. Kohli and Rahul then built a partnership of 92 runs in the final eight overs of the innings. Kohli finished the innings with a thrilling sequence of 4,4,6.
In the early stages of the innings, Kohli followed his usual approach of accumulating runs with singles and twos. Most of his runs came from boundaries, contributing only 54 runs to his total score of 122.
Rahul, on the other hand, started the reserve day aggressively, hitting boundaries early on. He even hit a shot so hard that Shadab Khan couldn’t hold onto the ball at backward point. Shadab and part-time spinner Iftikhar Ahmed faced the wrath of Rahul’s batting. Kohli also took on Iftikhar and left him with expensive figures.
Rahul utilized different shots, including sweeps and trips down the pitch, to disrupt Pakistan’s spinners. He even imitated Kohli when he hit Shadab over midwicket with the bottom wrist. When he reached a run-a-ball century, Rahul expressed relief by closing his eyes and looking towards the sky. Kohli celebrated more energetically and also became the fastest player to reach 13,000 ODI runs.
Rahul initially didn’t field at the start of India’s defense, but he returned in the seventh over to take over the wicketkeeper duties from Ishan Kishan. Later in the match, Rahul missed a difficult chance off a wrong ‘un from Kuldeep. However, he performed well behind the stumps. Bumrah also spent some time off the field during the match. It remains to be seen whether India will rotate their players in the upcoming match against Sri Lanka.
By the time Babar was dismissed by Hardik, Pakistan’s required run rate was already high. Kuldeep then removed Fakhar Zaman, and no other Pakistan batter managed to pass 25 runs in the chase. Kuldeep’s variations troubled the middle order, and he achieved his second five-wicket haul in ODIs. However, Pakistan’s number 10 and 11 were unavailable due to injuries.
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