India vs Pakistan LIVE: T20 World Cup final score, result and reaction today
Pakistan beat great rivals India in T20 World Cup showdown
Captain Babar Azam led by example as Pakistan beat India in a World Cup showdown for the first time ever with a 10-wicket romp in a Super 12 blockbuster at the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.
Virat Kohli played a captain’s knock of 57 to rescue India from a top-order wobble and help them post a competitive 151-7 in a rematch of the inaugural 2007 final.
His counterpart Babar combined with Mohammad Rizwan to get Pakistan off to a flying start and then overwhelmed the target with 13 balls to spare to snap India’s 100% win record against them in limited-overs World Cups.
Babar remained not out on 68, while Rizwan made an unbeaten 79.
Wary of the dew factor, captains have preferred to field and Babar too followed that trend after winning the toss.
Pakistan did not have to wait long for a breakthrough as Shaheen Afridi (3-31) struck twice in his first seven deliveries to rattle India.
The left-arm pacer fired in a searing yorker-length delivery to dismiss Rohit Sharma lbw for a golden duck and, in his next over, rifled one through KL Rahul’s gate to rearrange the stumps.
Suryakumar Yadav hit Afridi for a six but Rizwan took a diving catch behind the stumps to dismiss the batsman and reduce India to 31-3 in the sixth over.
Kohli and Rishabh Pant calmed nerves in the Indian camp and guided the team to 60-3 at the halfway stage of the innings.
Pant then decided to counter-attack and hit Hasan Ali for back-to-back sixes but his ultra-aggression ultimately did him in.
Shadab Khan foxed Pant with a googly to induce a skier which the spinner caught himself to dismiss the batsman for 39.
Kohli fell in the penultimate over of the innings trying to accelerate but India still made the 150-mark.
Pakistan, in their reply, not only kept their wickets intact in the powerplay overs but also scored briskly with Babar and Rizwan effectively killing off the contest with their rock-solid stand.
Babar brought up his fifty in style, hitting spinner Varun Chakravarthy for a six, while Rizwan reached his own fifty with a pulled boundary off Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan 43-0 (6), M Rizwan 25 (19), B Azam 17 (17)
Another very enjoyable over for Pakistan, as their openers don hard hats and hi-vis jackets, taking no risks whatsoever with a succession of nurdles and nudges to still take eight from the over an exit the powerplay unscathed.
Ravindra Jadeja will get his first bowl. Can the left-arm spinner force an opening?
Pakistan 35-0 (5), M Rizwan 21 (16), B Azam 14 (14)
Clever! More manipulation of length from the short Mohammad Rizwan, getting low in his stance once more to pull another not-so-short delivery away for the second boundary of the over. Really solid start from Pakistan’s openers.
FOUR! Pakistan 29-0 (4.3)
That’s another pleasing stroke from Babar, lifting Mohammed Shami from a good length, presenting the maker’s name and letting it pivot slightly as he strikes to time the ball sweetly over wide mid-on.
Pakistan 24-0 (4), M Rizwan 15 (13), B Azam 9 (11)
Half an appeal as a ball slides on with the arm and strikes a flicking Babar on the thigh pad, but that’s ducking down leg. Excellent start from Chakravarthy, who has appeared particularly troublesome to pick since bursting on the scene during last season’s IPL and has been mentored by the master of his sort of mystery, Sunil Narine, at KKR.
Pakistan 24-0 (3.4)
He’s a tough man to get underneath, Chakravarthy, with a habit of hitting a difficult area to strike both short and full of the traditional “good” length, mixing things up. He’s in to his flow well early, helped by two sharp bits of fielding at backward point.
Pakistan 22-0 (3), M Rizwan 14 (12), B Azam 8 (6)
An attempted yorker from Bumrah is instead clipped from just off the floor by Babar, who takes three as Suryakumar Yadav does a floor routine after sliding to collect in the deep.
Another attempt is right on the money, Rizwan pulling out a shovel and just about digging beneath a rapid Bumrah toe-crusher from that awkward contorted angle.
Four from the over, and our first sighting of spin - Varun Chakravarthy has bowled semi-regularly in the powerplay for the Kolkata Knight Riders of late and we’ll see some of his front-of-the-hand mystery early on in his debut at a major international tournament.
Pakistan 19-0 (2.3)
Virat Kohli makes a change - Jasprit Bumrah is probably the world’s best bowler across formats and leads the Indian attack. He replaces Bhuvneshwar.
FOUR! Pakistan 18-0 (2), M Rizwan 13 (9), B Azam 5 (3)
By the way, Hardik Pandya is not out there for India - Ishan Kishan appears to be on as the substitute fielder. That’s a concern for Virat Kohli, with Pandya already unable to bowl due to persistent injury issues.
Oh, Babar! The collective works of the great renaissance artists are less aesthetically pleasing than the Pakistan opener’s off-side oeuvre and he produces his first masterpiece to Shami’s fifth ball, a back-foot punch through the covers for four. Delectable.
Pakistan 11-0 (1.1)
Shami delivers his first ball to Babar Azam, who defends into the off-side and communicates well with his partner to steal a single.
Pakistan 10-0 (1), M Rizwan 10(6), B Azam 0 (0)
Pakistan will have watched the IPL with interest and seen that a fast start can make totals like these much easier to track down. On a pitch like this capitalising while the ball is hard and new may well be key.
Those boundaries are the only two opening shots of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first over - Mohammed Shami will share the new ball.
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