India have battle down arch-rival Pakistan by five wickets in the in the fourth encounter of Asia Cup.
A chase of 84 should have been a cruise but Mohammad Amir bowled with incredible skill to rout the Indian top order. Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan also bowled with hostility and troubled the batsmen - Yuvraj stayed long enough in the middle for his troubles against high pace to be exposed.
Virat Kohli did a magnificent effort. He batted with an assuredness that everyone in the game did not have, and steered India to their small target.
Kohli posted 49 off 51 balls hitting seven boundaries.
Virat Kohli along with his fellow Yuvraj Singh seemed cautious after losing early wickets.
Amir bagged Indian openers in a fabulous bowling effort in the first over of Indian innings to reach 84-run target by Pakistan in the fourth encounter of Asia Cup.
He took three wickets in two overs conferring only three runs.
Pakistan have been experiencing continuous fall of wickets and could post only 83 runs loosing all wickets in a sensible bowling and fielding effort by arch-rival India in the game.
Nehra initiated the pace attack with sensible line and length. A Nehra delivary in the first over of the match bagged Pakistani opener Hafeez.
Bumrah picked Sharjeel Khan in a slower short ball. Sharjeel Khan went hard on the cut and caught up by Rahane at around fourth slip.
Manzoor was sent back to the pavilion scoring 10 runs off 18 balls in a sharp fielding effort by Kohli. A wasted wicket, when there was no run there.
Shoaib Malik, the fourth one goes in a Pandya delivary. After cramping Shoaib Malik for room with wicket-to-wicket stuff, he dangles the carrot outside off and the batsman falls for it. He caught by Dhoni.
Akmal was late in getting his bat down in a straight line to play Yuvraj. Not only a wicket but was celebration for Yuvraj and India.
Pakistan skipper Afridi trapped while taking a quick run but Jadeja and Dhoni sent him to the dressing room in a super tuned fielding task.
India decided to bowl first against arch-rival Pakistan at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
It is not only India and Pakistan who are excited about the tie. Millions of fans in Bangladesh are expected to be nailed to their sofa seats at home while demand for tickets has already reached a crescendo.
Considering the popularity and history of the contest, the game promises to be a thrilling encounter. This will be the first meeting between the two sub-continent rivals in any format since last year’s World Cup.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi(c), Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan
India (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah