Jasprit Bumrah 3/14 and an all-round bowling effort helped India overcome their timid batting as they beat Pakistan by six runs in a low-scoring thriller in New York.
The ‘Big Dance’ at the ‘Big Apple’ was how T20 World Cup 2024 was marketed right from when the most prominent fixture in cricket was announced. Come June 9, 2024 and New York was buzzing about the India vs Pakistan clash; however, on the backdrop of issues with the drop-in pitch at Nassau County Stadium and Pakistan themselves coming into the game with a loss to the USA in Dallas and the general trend of low-scoring affairs in the tournament – it did feel that the fans who would turn up for the game and the billions tuning in on broadcast – could be left disappointed.
Add to that the drama of rain at the start of the match and couple of rain delays that stretched the game beyond the regular cricket ‘prime-time’ viewing in the sub-continent. But, the New Yorkers got a complete game, sans high scores, but full of high drama.
India could not make much use of their experience of having played a game here earlier (vs Ireland), huffing to 119 all out after being 89/3 and even though they put up a mighty big effort with the ball, as Pakistan, almost drowning under the embarrassment of the loss to the USA, and finding themselves in a must-win game, managed once again to made a fist of things against their arch-rivals to go down for the seven time in T20 World Cups to India, ending at 113/7, seven runs adrift of the target and now on the verge of getting knocked out of the tournament.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam had to be the key for Pakistan in a tricky run chase, and when Pakistan reached 26/0 in the fifth over, memories of 2021 would have returned. But with Jasprit Bumrah around, India had their ace, and he got the first breakthrough with a brute of a delivery to remove the Pakistan skipper. Back of-length delivery angled in, surprising Azam (13), and he edged one to first slip where Suryakumar Yadav was stationed. A nervy Usman Khan (13) hung around before perishing to Axar Patel.
Rizwan bid his time and tried to make the most of a reprieve given to him by Shivam Dube, but he was running out of partners. Fakhar Zaman (13) came in and danced down the track to Axar for an almighty six but was out to a bouncer by Hardik Pandya, with Rishabh Pant completing a good catch.
Rizwan battled his way to 31 of 44 and realised he had to take the game on, but he chose the wrong bowler. 15th over, a length ball from Bumrah, angled in, and Rizwan moved across for a pickup shot misreading the length. The ball thudded onto the stumps, and the Nassau County erupted to the decibel levels of 123b. That was the game-altering moment for India as Shahdab Khan and Imad Wasim dug their team into a hole and India tightened the noose.
A win for the ages. (AP Photo)
On a tricky pitch where run-scoring was tough, Pandya, Bumrah and Siraj stuck to length balls, while Axar and Jadeja fired in the bolters as the required run-rate kept creeping up. And the bowlers closed out the game with Bumrah ending with 3/14, while Pandya claimed 2/24.
The toss was always going to be a crucial one, especially with rain delaying the start of play, and Pakistan skipper Babar got the rub of the green on that one, opting to bowl first on an iffy wicket.
Rohit Sharma started with a stunning pickup shot off Shaheen Shah Afridi for a six in front of the square before another rain delay extended the wait for 45 minutes.
Naseem Shah got the first breakthrough when Virat Kohli went after a short and wide one and Usman Khan at extra cover taking the catch but the key wicket of Rohit by Afridi dented India.
Rohit tried to replicate the pickup short, but the delivery stuck to the pitch, and Haris Rauf held on to clutch catch in front of the square. Axar was promoted to partner Pant, who rode his luck throughout his 31-ball 42.
Axar hung around for 18 deliveries for 20, and with Pant bringing out the reverse sweeps and finding some touch angles to score runs, India seemed set for a 160-plus target. But from 89/3, they collapsed as Pakistan found a new lease of life.
The two-paced nature of the wicket undid Suryakumar and Dube while Pandya scored 7 during his 12-ball stay before getting holed out in his bid to get some quick runs.
Despite being at the top of the game, Pakistan’s mercurial nature meant Indian tail-enders managed to add a few more crucial runs to the total before being bundled out for 119. Naseem returned 3/21, while Rauf had figures of 3-0-21-3, while Mohammad Amir added 2/23.
Brief Scores: India 119 all out (Rishabh Pant 42; Naseem Shah 3/21) beat Pakistan 113/7 (Mohammad Rizwan 31; Jasprit Bumrah 3/14) by six runs
