MIRPUR: India gave humiliating defeat to arch-rival Pakistan by five wickets after chasing the easy target of 84 runs; the lowest ever target in history of Twenty20 format.
Despite outstanding show of pacer Mohammad Amir, Indian batsmen reached the milestone in 15 overs after Kohli lifted his team with 49 runs along with Yuvraj Singh’s 13 runs.
Initially, India lost its three wickets consecutively including Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina which brought pressure in the crucial fight against Pakistan. However, Virat Kohli exhibited responsible role for his team by defensive styled batting while facing dangerous pace attack of Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Amir. Later, Kohli started hammering Wahab Riaz to release the extreme pressure after building partnership with Yuvraj Singh.
A controversial decision was taken by umpire when Kohli declared leg before wicket standing a run away for cracking half century over ball of Mohammad Sami. Mahendra Singh Dhoni played winning four to achieve milestone.
Mohammad Amir grabbed three wickets, Mohammad Sami took two wickets in the match.
With full of blunders in batting line-up, Green Shirts managed to set easy target of 100 runs against arch-rival India at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Sarfraz Ahmed became top scorer with 25 runs off 29 balls while second top scorer was Khurram Manzoor with 10.
Pakistani openers failed once again in the crucial cricket battle as Mohammad Hafeez was sent off to pavilion after 4 runs while newcomer Sharjeel Khan scored only 7 runs before being caught by slip fielder. Hardik Pandya grabbed three wickets, Ravindra Jadeja two while Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuvraj Singh took one wicket each.
Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday won the toss and opted to field first in the most-awaited cricket battle of Asia Cup 2016 against arch rival Pakistan during the fourth match of the event.
India Team
Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra
Pakistan Team
Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi*, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan
Umpires: RSA Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka) and Sharfuddoula
TV umpire: Enamul Haque
Match referee: JJ Crowe (New Zealand)
Reserve umpire: Anisur Rahman
