The middle overs spell where Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah not only kept things tight but also struck crucial blows turned the game back slowly towards India. Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman had started Pakistan’s march with 16 runs coming in 19 balls before Pandya had Zaman caught behind. Jasprit Bumrah proved to be fire with the ball as the Pakistani batters had no clue about this Indian spearhead.
Like India’s innings, this also triggered a massive turnaround in Pakistan’s innings as they managed only 40 runs from the last 46 balls. After Pandya’s breakthrough, India’s bowlers all chipped in with Jasprit Bumrah putting up a stellar show to bag his second Man of the Match performance in as many games as he finished with 3-14. It started the squeeze where India’s bowlers put in a collective effort in the back-end to choke Pakistan.
Pitch and Toss
Fairly even square boundaries today: 66m on one side and 70m on the other. The wind speed right now is 23kph – not sure what direction it’s blowing in. A network of cracks and large plates all over the pitch, with a good amount of grass cover too. Don’t expect big totals today.
Pakistan in overcast conditions won the toss and chose to bowl with Babar Azam bringing in Imad Wasim for Azam Khan. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma batting first made no changes to the squad.
India move riskily after losing openers in the Powerplay
Despite a delayed start due to rain and then another break after the game had started, no overs were lost when play resumed. Virat Kohli began with a rousing cover drive off Naseem Shah. Adding Rohit Sharma’s flick off Shaheen Afridi earlier, the Indian openers had sounded out their intent early. But the pitch was still not the easiest to bat on with the ball stopping a touch combined with movement. Kohli was out chasing a wide delivery and smashing it to cover point.
Rohit’s extravagant flick was also miscued leaving him caught to deep square leg. Pakistan’s field positions to the two worked to plan and India replied with a change-up in their batting order bringing up the left-handed Axar Patel to partner Rishabh Pant. Both batters though lived streakily with a number of edges going away from the fielders and even fetching them boundaries. In between Patel managed a deft upper cut and a loft down the ground to keep the runs coming as India brought up their fifty inside the powerplay.
Amir, Naseem catch India unawares in middle overs as Rishabh Pant played a cautious cameo
This was the best pitch to bat on in New York so far. But even that had its perils. Largely in the form of the ball not coming on, and occasionally with uneven bounce. Rizwan and Arshdeep Singh took blows to the hand.
A bit of luck is required in these conditions. Pant got that when he survived three catching opportunities in three balls and later survived an inside edge that could have gone onto the stumps. A bit of bravery helps. Pant showed that when he smashed Haris Rauf over extra cover. A bit of imagination doesn’t go amiss either.
Pant epitomized that with a flick shot that he played while falling to the floor because that was the only way he knew how to get under a good length ball and put in the gap at fine leg. Later, to Imad’s highly accurate left-arm spin, he brought out the standing reverse sweep. It was tough to bat out there. Pant’s unorthodox methods made him successful; made him stand out. He made 42 off 31 at a strike rate of 135. The rest of India made 70 off 84 at a strike rate of 83.
In the game against USA, Mohammad Amir was all over the place. In this one, he was spot on. Eight of the first 12 deliveries he bowled produced false shots. Early on with the new ball, he beat the bat three times in a row. Later on, with the old one, he was on a hat-trick. Pakistan demoted him to first-change and by the time he came on, India had already lost their two best batters, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli caught off balls that stuck in the pitch, a theme that would continue for the rest of the innings.
Amir had a soft entry but he made the absolute most of it. His best work coincided with the best phase of the game for Pakistan, when they strung four overs together between the 12th and the 15th where only eight runs were scored and four wickets were taken. India went from 89 for 3 to 96 for 7. At the halfway stage, Pakistan were ahead
In the space of eighteen balls, India lost four wickets for eight runs as they slipped to 97/7 at the end of the 15th over. The turnaround had been rather swift and sudden after Rishabh Pant had threatened to take India to a good total on the tricky surface. Pant hit three boundaries off Haris Rauf to finally inject some momentum in an otherwise scratchy innings. Despite getting into the forties though, it was clear that this was not a pitch for shot-making.
Batter after batter had fallen to catches with the ball seemingly stopping on them. Axar Patel had been bowled off a skidder from Shah while Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja all fell to catches inside the circle. The last two were picked up off consecutive deliveries from Amir while Naseem added two more to his tally as India’s shot selection left much to be desired. It brought Pakistan roaring back into a commanding position.
India spiral down further to 119 all out
Hardik Pandya, the last recognized batter left in the middle could not do much to salvage India’s dire position. He ended up flicking Haris Rauf to deep square leg leaving Pakistan cock-a-hoop. India’s tail could not do much on the pitch with Pakistan getting their zones right throughout. Rauf came back strongly in this phase to finish with a three-wicket haul just like Naseem.
Pakistan make a watchful start as Jasprit Bumrah strikes in the Powerplay
Desperately needing some early breakthroughs while defending a low target, India were kept at bay as Pakistan’s top order respected the conditions on offer to play watchfully. While Rizwan led that approach, keeping his defence tight, Babar Azam departed nicking off against Jasprit Bumrah after a couple of eye-catching shots.
Both batters had been given early lives, with Shivam Dube putting down Rizwan at fine leg off Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj dropping a return catch from Azam. It allowed Pakistan to be circumspect for longer as they trudged their way to 35 inside the powerplay.
India keep Pakistan in check in middle overs as Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah squeeze the middle overs
Rizwan played an anchor right through and ended up with 31 off 44. It was a knock that kept Pakistan from collapsing like India did but also did not help them push the scoring late along. The batters at the other end were up to taking more chances like Fakhar Zaman did when he lofted his second ball for a six.
It came soon after Usman Khan was trapped LBW by Axar Patel. But Zaman’s brief knock was cut short when he was out gloving a pull against Hardik Pandya to the wicket-keeper. Rohit then turned to his talisman Jasprit Bumrah, and the pacer struck a big blow off the first delivery of his third over. A well-set Rizwan saw a delivery keep a touch low and was bowled neck and crop creating a massive twist in the back-end.
India waited until the third over to deploy their super weapon. Then they had to wait until the 15th to bring him back. In between, they relied on others to keep the pressure up and two people in particular did that with aplomb. Hardik Pandya and his short-of-a-length offerings were always going to be a threat on this New York pitch with uneven bounce.
He stopped Fakhar Zaman before he could play the kind of cameo that would kill chases like these. And then he took out Shadab Khan. Both times the batters were surprised by how high the ball was when they made contact with it. Hardik wasn’t. He just shrugged, as if to say, yeah, I do that. No big deal.
Axar Patel was the other unsung hero, bowling the first of the death overs and somehow keeping it to just two runs even though he was up against a left-hand batter with the short boundary on the leg side. Imad Wasim was never allowed to win the match-up as he was fed a diet of non-spinning deliveries that were angled across him and kept bouncing over his cut shots.
Jasprit Bumrah produced the biggest swing in momentum towards India according to Forecaster, 44% at the end of the 19th over. Axar produced the second-biggest swing, his defensive skills earning a 13% bump.
Jasprit Bumrah the hero as India win by 6 runs
At a crucial juncture, Imad Wasim managed only 15 off 23, even missing three consecutive deliveries against a favorable match-up of left-arm spin of Axar Patel. In the final five overs of the innings when the boundaries were at a premium, India managed to keep things exceptionally tight. Iftikhar Ahmed even missed out against a couple of full tosses, being caught off one as Pakistan’s innings nosedived. The tacky nature of the surface didn’t help their cause as Pakistan pushed themselves into a corner from where they couldn’t crawl out.
Pakistan need 40 runs off the last 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. ESPNCricinfo’s forecaster gave them a 93% chance of victory then. Poor thing. It’s been left on the fritz. Bumrah’s discipline, his calmness under pressure, his extraordinary skill, not just in delivering the right ball but in understanding what the right ball is, confounded man and machine alike In New York.
Mohammad Rizwan was made to believe that a full length ball was there to play a cross-bat shot. His stumps paid the price. Soon after knocking it back, Jasprit Bumrah spread his arms wide and broke into a smile. That’s his usual celebration. But he didn’t stop there. He roared. And over 30,000 people at the ground roared with him.
He punched the air. Millions joined him. This was the opening that India could build on. This was the crack that would cause the collapse. Rizwan, the set batter, fell for 31 off 44. Bumrah, who had accounted for Babar Azam earlier, also took out Pakistan’s final hope, Iftikhar Ahmed, in the 19th over. Of his 24 balls, 15 were dots. Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery carved out a piece of history: 119 is the joint-lowest total ever defended in men’s T20 World Cups.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Babar Azam the loosing skipper said: We bowled well. In the batting, lost back to back wickets and had too much dot balls. Tactics was simple to play normally. Just strike rotation and the odd boundary. But in that period we had too many dot balls. Can’t expect much from tailenders.
Our mind was to utilize first six overs in batting. But one wicket down, and again we weren’t up to the mark in first six. Pitch looked decent. Ball was coming on nicely. It was a little bit slow, and some balls extra bounce. Have to win last two matches. Will sit and discuss our mistakes but looking forward to last two matches.
Rohit Sharma the winning skipper said: We didn’t bat well enough. Halfway through our innings we were in good position. We didn’t put enough partnership there and fell short with the bat. We spoke about every run matters on a pitch like that. There was enough in the pitch. Was a good wicket to be honest, compared to the last game. With a bowling lineup like that you feel confident to do the job.
Halfway through the stage when they were batting, we got everyone together and said that if it can happen to us, it can happen to them. Little contribution from everyone can make huge difference. He’s going from strength to strength (Bumrah). We all know what he can do. Not going to talk too much about him.
Want him to be in that mindset throughout the WC. He’s a genius, we all know that. Crowd was superb. They never disappoint wherever we play. I’m sure they’ll be going home with a big smile. It’s just the start, we have a long way to go.
Jasprit Bumrah Player of the Match for his 3 wickets said: It feels really good. We felt we were a little under and the wicket got a little better after the sun came out. We were really disciplined so it feels good. Tried to hit the seam as much as I could, tried to be as clear as I could with my execution and it all came out well so I felt happy.
Felt like we were playing in India, really happy with the support and that gives us energy on the field. We focus on the now. We’ve played two games and played really well. You stick to your processes and look to play well.
Two losses on the bounce for Pakistan in this tournament, and their poor record against India continues. Naseem is in tears. Emotions running high for the Pakistan players who are on the brink of elimination. They were in reasonable control of the chase around the 10-over point. With as many as nine wickets in hand and the asking rate only around 6, they should’ve been able to get the job done despite the up-and-down nature of the surface.
But as we’ve seen time and again, some poor choices with the bat let them down. Rizwan, in particular, will look back at that shot against Jasprit Bumrah that was a big part of the collapse. India bowled well, but even when they didn’t – like those two full tosses from Jasprit Bumrah to Iftikhar – Pakistan weren’t able to capitalize. They went without a boundary for six overs before the last over, leaving them with 18 to get off 6 balls. And that was never happening with Arshdeep nailing his yorkers so beautifully.
Another tight game between these two teams at the T20 World Cup with India coming out on top. Pakistan will be absolutely gutted. They seemed to have that under control before losing their grip in the final few overs. Both captains agreed the pitch was better today, and India were looking in the region of 140. But even after a big collapse with the bat, leaving them with just 119 to defend, they got the job done
One team had Jasprit Bumrah. The other didn’t. And that was that. That was the difference. His legend is littered with incredible displays. But this will feel sweeter, not merely for the fact that it came in a T20 World Cup match against Pakistan, but for the fact that without his intervention this game would have almost certainly had a different ending. India defended 119. Pakistan lost after being 80 for 3. The finalists of the 2022 tournament are in serious danger of an early exit.