Team India made it 2-0 against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2018 after they defeated their western neighbours for the second time in five days. Following the 8-wicket win last Wednesday, India cruised to yet another comprehensive win – on this occasion outclassing Pakistan by 9 wickets at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
After restricting Pakistan to a modest 237-7, Team India’s chase was powered by the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who stitched together a 210-run partnership which knocked the stuffing off Pakistan.
The 9-wicket victory margin is also India’s biggest-ever over Pakistan.
After Dhawan’s dismissal – run out for 114 with the team on the brink, Rohit and Ambati Rayudu completed the job. Team India got across the finish line in the 40th over.
Dhawan & Rohit Demolish Pakistan
Dhawan and Rohit were simply sensational on the night – breaking a couple of records during the course of their association. Their 210-run partnership would be India’s highest opening partnership against Pakistan in ODIs; the pair bettered a 20-year old record, then set by Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, who had added 159 runs in an ODI in Dhaka.
Dhawan and Rohit, who would get individual hundreds, also rode into the record books for posting India’s best opening partnership in Asia Cup ODIs.
The Genius of Bumrah – Too Good for Pakistan
Much before Dhawan and Rohit launched their pyrotechnics, the individual who made the telling contribution in setting up the match for India was Jasprit Bumrah. The 24-year old showcased why he is the top-ranked bowler in the ICC ODI rankings with an outstanding performance; he hit his areas repeatedly and was hard to score off in all the spells he bowled in the evening.
An analysis of Bumrah’s performance on Sunday reveals that he stuck to two lengths: he seldom hit the traditional good length area (4-6 metres mark) and was either full (close the yorker length) or hit the back of length. Close to 80% (if not more) of his back of a length deliveries were not scored of and accounted for a significant portion of the 37 dot balls he bowled on the night.
His spell at the back end of the innings was a masterclass on bowling in the death overs; Bumrah repeatedly landed the yorkers or dished out the low full tosses and didn’t give the batsmen any opportunity to get under the ball. And he did this, all the while bowling at pretty good pace; his fastest delivery in the match was clocked at 145.2 kph, and his average speed in the match stood at 138.2 kph!
Not only did he deny the Pakistan batsmen scoring opportunities, he also picked up two wickets, including that of the well-set Shoaib Malik. With his two-wicket haul in Sunday’s match, Bumrah has now picked up at least one wicket in each of his last 17 ODIs – an amazing feat that further substantiates his billing as the top-ranked bowler in ODIs.
Malik Shines in Pakistan’s Innings
Shoaib Malik starred with the bat in Pakistan’s innings. The 36-year old walked out to bat in the 16th over – at which point Pakistan had only 58 runs on the board – and built a platform in the company of the captain Sarfraz Ahmed. Malik scored a fluent 78 and dominated the 107-run fourth wicket partnership that gave Pakistan a platform from which they could launch.
Malik it seems has a liking for India as an opponent, and the Asia Cup as an event. He averages 48.16 in ODIs against India and 68.72 in Asia Cup ODIs – significantly higher numbers compared to his career average of 35.62. And then, not surprisingly, in Asia Cup ODIs against India, Shoaib Malik’s numbers make for sensational reading – an average of 107.00 in five matches.
Milestones for Rohit and Chahal
There were personal milestones for the Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal too. In the evening, Chahal picked up two wickets – the second of them was his 50th in ODIs; the leg-spinner reached the milestone in his 30th ODI – making him the second-quickest among Indian spinners (after Kuldeep Yadav) to collect 50 wickets.
When, at the start of the 34th over, Rohit Sharma took a single off Shoaib Malik to get to 95, he took his aggregate of runs to 7000; in needing only 181 innings to get to the milestone, Rohit was the 5th quickest to get to the 7000-runs mark.
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