It was a cracker of a match at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium as India and Pakistan met for a do-or-die encounter in the Asia Cup 2014. Pakistan emerged victorious in the battle between the old warhorses by 1 wicket with only 2 balls remaining in hand.
India, after being sent to bat by Misbah Ul Haq, scored a lowly 245/8 in their full quota of 50 overs. Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu all scored half centuries but could never provide the momentum that could have helped India to score 20-30 runs more. Rohit Sharma (56) made a good start after India lost Dhawan and Kohli cheaply but could not carry on after getting over the 50-run mark. India was once in deep trouble when Pakistan’s debutant Mohammad Talha bowled brilliantly restricting the Indian batsmen to small runs. He picked up 2 wickets in his first international match. Saeed Ajmal, the ever dependable off-spinner, picked up wickets at times when Pakistan needed most. He finished with the figures of 10-0-40-3. Umar Gul picked up the wicket of Kohli while Hafeez picked up the important wickets of Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik.
Coming on to chase down the small target, Pakistan made a solid start with Ahmed Shahzad and Sharjeel Khan looking absolutely untroubled by the Indian opening bowlers. But once 
Ashwin made the breakthrough by taking the wicket of Sharjeel Khan, Pakistan batting began to fall apart. Amit Mishra bowled an absolute brilliant spell of consecutive 8 overs picking up 2 wickets giving away only 16 runs. However Mohammad Hafeez, who got the man-of-the-match award, kept hopes alive for the Pakistanis. Shoaib Maqsood gave him good support at the other end. Together they put up a partnership of 87 crucial runs for the 5th wicket. Just when it looked like that Pakistan was taking away the match from India’s grip, India struck back with quick wickets. But if one has to find out the star of the match, it can be none other than Shahid Afridi. It was Afridi’s sixes that gave Pakistan the win when they needed 8 runs off the last 4 balls. Afridi remained not out on 34 off just 18 balls. India’s bowlers’ valiant effort in the end went in to vain due to the heroics from Afridi.
With this defeat India is almost set to take an early flight back to India as they have now lost 2 of their 3 matches that they have played. Pakistan, on the other hand, has won 2 and lost out to Sri Lanka only. If only Pakistan lose their last match, which is very unlikely though, and India win their match against Afghanistan with a bonus point, then only India can go through tot the final. As of now, India’s chances of qualifying for the final looks like a daydream.
Tags: Ambati Rayudu Asia Cup Asia Cup 2014 Dhawan dinesh karthik india Misbah Ul Haq Mohammad Hafeez Pakistan Pakistan beats India Ravindra Jadeja Rohit Sharma Shahid Afridi Umar Gul
