India 85 for 5 (Kohli 49, Amir 3-18) beat Pakistan 83 (Pandya 3-8, Jadeja 2-11) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
India’s pacers did a lot of damage early on © Associated Press
There is a bar for international batsmen and with Pakistan it is never quite certain which way they will push it. Whatever happens, there is never a shortage of spectacle and that box was at least ticked in Mirpur. Pakistan crumbled to 83 all out in 17.3 overs – their lowest ever score in T20Is after batting first. There is a bar for international bowlers too and Pakistan have been vaulting over it for years. Mohammad Amir, playing his sixth international limited-overs match in nearly as many years, turned up like he hadn’t missed a beat. He took out Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the first over of the chase and a low-scoring game that had threatened to be one-sided was given the thrill India-Pakistan cricket is known for. But logic had to prevail in the end and India held on for a five-wicket win.
Rohit, who had stood a class apart on a similarly challenging pitch on Wednesday, was beaten for pace and prodigious inswing before he even had his bearings set. The yorker may well have burned a hole through his boot and crashed into off stump. Amir could not have sounded his warning any clearer or louder but his leg-before appeal was turned down. So he pulled his length back but kept the inswing going. Rohit was rapped on the pads again and this time there was no doubt. Ajinkya Rahane, coming as a late replacement as Shikhar Dhawan rested a niggle, weathered a couple before he too couldn’t handle the ball bending back into him at 140 kph-plus and was caught in front. Suresh Raina popped a catch to mid-on in Amir’s next over and India were 8 for 3.
Full report to follow…
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo