Daily Times

AHMEDABAD: Rohit Sharma’s enterprising 63-ball 86 and bowlers’ brilliance powered India to a clinical seven-wicket victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 12th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 192, India were way clinical with the bat and spearheaded by Rohit Sharma, who treated the Pakistan bowlers with the utter contempt. He whacked six boundaries and six sixes in his fiery knock. India swept past against Pakistan comfortably by seven wickets, with 117 balls remaining. Shreyas Iyer (53) scored the winning runs for his side and notched up his fifty in style.

KL Rahul remained unconquered on 29-ball 19, lacing with two boundaries.

Shaheen Shah Afridi had removed Rohit Sharma after the latter smashed blistering 63-ball 86, but provided India a great chance of bagging a big victory against the Babar Azam-inspired Pakistan.

Rohit Sharma continued to treat the Pakistan bowlers with utter contempt and raised his bat to the gallery after notching up another half-century against Pakistan after Virat Kohli’s (16) was removed by Hasan Ali.

Shubman Gill who started off the proceedings for India with the bat with great intent before he was removed by Shaheen Shah Afridi on 16.

There is nothing to talk about the Pakistan bowling. Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-36), who struggled to bowl with consistency and went for runs, but made a good comeback to bag the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. But it was too late to pull back for his side.

Hasan Ali (1-34) picked up a wicket.

Mohammad Nawaz (0-47), Haris Rauf (0-43) and Shadab Khan (0-31) failed to grab any wicket.

After put into bat first, Pakistan openers tried to flex their muscles, before Mohammad Siraj trapped Abdullah Shafique. In his 24-ball innings, Shafique scored 20, smashing three boundaries.

Pakistan were looking to rebound their innings after losing Abdullah Shafique (20) and Imamul Haq (36) against the Rohit Sharma-inspired side. Indian bowlers bundled out Pakistan for 191 in the high-octane clash.

With the exception of Babar Azam (50), Mohammad Rizwan (49), Imamul Haq (36) and Abdullah Shafique (20), none of the batters showed any significant resistance with the bat.

Saud Shakeel (6) joined Mohammad Rizwan on the wicket after Pakistan skipper Babar Azam made his way back to the pavilion after notching up his first fifty against the hosts. But Kuldeep Yadav was too good to trap Shakeel and mount pressure on the visitors.

Rizwan remained unlucky to notch up and was flummoxed by Jasprit Bumrah on 69-ball 49.

Babar Azam joined Imam and the pair put up a 32-run partnership before Hardik Pandya flummoxed Imam. Imam scored 38-ball 36, clobbering six fours.

Mohammad Rizwan, who racked up century during his outing against Sri Lanka joined Babar Azam to ensure that the pressure will not mount on Pakistan against the arch-rivals India.

Babar Azam who for the first time had racked up a half-century against India in the ODIs was undone shortly by Mohammad Siraj on 58-ball 50.

The Pakistan skipper hammered seven boundaries in his circumspect knock. In the opening innings, Pakistan got off to a strong start, accumulating runs in the initial overs.

However, their momentum was disrupted when Siraj made a crucial breakthrough on the last ball of the 8th over, dismissing Abdullah Shafique, the right-handed batsman with a leg-before-wicket delivery.

For India, with the exception of Shardul Thakur (0-12) – who remained wicketless – Jasprit Bumrah (2- 19), Mohammed Siraj (2-50), Hardik Pandya (2-34), Kuldeep Yadav (2-35) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-38) bagged two wickets apiece.

But was for showing great accuracy with the bowl, Bumrah was named the player of the match.

In the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team had won the toss and elected to field first against Babar Azam-led Pakistan in a much anticipated and high-profile clash.

The highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan in the World Cup 2023 is off to an electrifying start.

Winning the toss and opting to bowl first, India’s captain Rohit Sharma made a significant lineup change, welcoming Shubman Gill back as the opener in place of Ishan Kishan.

This historic encounter, a cricketing spectacle, transcends borders, and it’s a day that commands attention and enthusiasm from fans worldwide.

While past encounters had often seen India’s dominance, recent matches had produced nail-biting contests, reigniting the traditional rivalry.

The iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is the epicenter of the much-anticipated clash in the 2023 World Cup, where India faces off against Pakistan.

Elevating the excitement surrounding one of the fiercest rivalries in the world of sports was a pre-match extravaganza featuring acclaimed artists such as Shankar Mahadevan, Arijit Singh, and Sukhwinder Singh.

Originally slated to kick off at 12:30, this magnificent ceremony preceded the coin toss in Ahmedabad.