Dubai: Virat Kohli’s blistering 60 and 37-run partnership stand with Deepak Hooda guided India to post 181/7 against arch-rival Pakistan in the second match of the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Virat Kohli was in his best form as he smashed 60 runs in 44 deliveries, while Rohit Sharma scored 28 runs setting a solid foundation for the Indian team. For Pakistan Shadab Khan bagged two wickets while Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah scalped one wicket each.
Put to bat first, India got off to a flying start as their openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma slammed Pakistani bowlers all around the ground while gathering 34 runs in three overs without losing a wicket.
In the fourth over of the innings, Rohit hammered Haris Rauf for 12 runs, while smashing one six and four. In the 6th over Haris Rauf delivered a stunning delivery dismissing India captain Rohit for 28 runs in 16 balls. After six powerplay overs, India’s score read 62/1.
In the 7th over Shadab Khan gave his team a big breakthrough as he dismissed Rahul for 28 runs in 20 balls. Suryakumar Yadav then came to bat on the crease. Suryakumar got off the mark with a superb four on the first ball he faced. He played a beautiful cut short towards the backward point region for a four.
Suryakumar could not do much and his stint on the crease was cut short as he was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz after scoring 13 runs in 10 deliveries. Left-handed batter Rishabh Pant then came to the crease.
After 10 over of the innings, India’s score read 93/3. In the 11th over Mohammad Hasnain bowled a short ball to the former India captain and he hit it for a four towards backward square leg.
Kohli slammed a shot down the track on the very first ball of the 12th over and smashed Naseem Shah for a four towards extra cover. The duo of Kohli and Pant hammered Shah for 13 runs.
Pant could stand longer as he attempted a reverse-sweep on the ball of Shadab Khan and hit the ball straight into the hands of backward point fielder Asif Ali. He departed on 14 runs off 12 balls. Pakistan’s Hasnain gave India a major blow as he dismissed Hardik Pandya for a 2-ball duck.
Deepak Hooda then came to bat and opened his tally with a brilliant four on Hasnain’s delivery. In the 18th over Virat Kohli smashed a huge six and brought up his half-centuries in 36 balls. It was his back-to-back second fifty in this ongoing Asia Cup.
In the 19th over, Hooda departed to the pavilion after scoring 16 runs in 14 balls. Kohli was run out by Asif Ali and sent back to the pavilion after scoring 60 runs. Ravi Bishnoi then came to the crease and smashed back-to-back two four to help India post a total of 181/7 in 20 overs.
Brief score: India 181-7 (Virat Kohli 60, Rohit Sharma 28; Shadab Khan 2-31) vs Pakistan.
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