Melbourne, 23 October 2022: Pakistan ran out of Lady Luck in the final over as India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Group 2 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super-12 fixture at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
A controversial waist-high full-toss call by square-leg umpire Marais Erasmus (which he did not review), which went for a six from Virat Kohli’s willow that was followed by three bye runs after Kohli was clean bowled by Mohammad Nawaz on the free-hit, allowed India to achieve the 160-run target off the final ball after they required 16 runs off the last over.
Nawaz had started the last over brilliantly when he dismissed Hardik Pandya (40, 37 balls, 1x4, 2x6) and then conceded three runs off the next two balls, before the drama unfolded.
A six off a no-ball, followed by three bye runs left India requiring two runs off two balls. Nawaz kept his cool to have Dinesh Karthik stumped, but he bowled a wide before Ravichandran Ashwin ended the nail-biter with a shot over mid-off.
Nonetheless, Pakistan should never have been in this situation in the first place after they held the match by the scruff of its neck after reducing India to 31 for four in 6.1 overs and then limiting the traditional rivals to 112 for four after 17 overs, needing 48 runs from three overs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi conceded 17 runs in the 18th and Haris Rauf, after conceding three runs in four balls, went for successive sixes as the target came down from 28 runs in eight balls to 16 runs in six balls.
Virat Kohli buried the ghost of Pakistan’s 10 wickets victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai 12 months ago when he led his side to an unlikely victory. Kohli returned unconquered on 82 from 53 balls with six fours and four sixes, and together with Pandya, added 113 runs in 78 balls.
Kohli turned the screws on Pakistan in the last three overs, scoring 36 off the required 48 runs. This included 30 runs in boundaries (three fours and three sixes) as Pakistan bowlers played in the hands of the champion batter.
Despite the defeat, no one can take anything away from the Pakistan side, which gave their absolute best in front of more than 90,000 spectators. The batters showed intent when they fought back gallantly to reach 159 for eight after being reduced to 15 for two and then the bowlers and fielders made India work extremely hard for each and every run.
Earlier, Pakistan showed tremendous fighting spirit and intent after the early departures of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to post an impressive 159 for eight in 20 overs. This included 99 runs in the last 10 overs, though these cost six wickets.
Babar tried to play across the line and was pinned in front of the wickets for a golden duck by Arshdeep Singh, who, 11 balls later, had Rizwan (four) caught off a short delivery at fine-leg.
But first Shan Masood (52, 42 balls, 5x4) and Iftikhar Ahmed (51, 34 balls, 2x4, 4x6) repaired the damage with a 76-run third wicket partnership in 50 balls, then Shan and Nawaz (nine, 6 balls, 2x4) put on 17 runs in 11 balls for the sixth wicket before Shan and Shaheen Shah Afridi (16 off eight balls) added 31 runs from 16 balls for the eighth wicket to reach 159 for eight.
After it was all about putting the innings back on track following early setbacks in the first half of the innings, which yielded 60 runs for two wickets, the shackles were broken by Iftikhar, when he clobbered Axar Patel for three sixes in the 12th as Pakistan moved from 70 for two in 11 overs to 91 for two in 12 overs.
And although Iftikhar departed immediately after his 12th over heroics, trapped in front of the wickets by Mohammad Shami, Pakistan’s middle-order carried the momentum despite Shadab Khan (five off six), Haider Ali (two off four) and Asif Ali (two off three) unable to make significant contributions.
Haris Rauf may have missed three deliveries in the final over, the six he hit off Bhuvneshwar Kumar must have further lifted the spirits of his team-mates in the dug-out.
For India, Hardik Pandya and Singh equally shared six wickets between them conceding, 30 and 32 runs, respectively, while Kumar and Shami took a wicket apiece.
Scores in brief
Match 16 – India beat Pakistan by four wickets
Pakistan 159-8, 20 overs (Shan Masood 52 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 51, Shaheen Shah Afridi 16; Hardik Pandya 3-30, Arshdeep Singh 3-32)
India 160-6, 20 overs (Virat Kohli 82 not out, Hardik Pandya 40; Haris Rauf 2-36, Mohammad Nawaz 2-42)
Player of the match – Virat Kohli (India)
Pakistan’s next match – vs Zimbabwe, Perth (Thursday, 27 October)
