The atmosphere was electrifying at the Narendra Modi Stadium for the most anticipated match of the World Cup with 120,000 all backing the home side. It was a sea of blue around the ground, the home fans were behind India cheering every wicket.
Pakistan were off to a decent start after being put in and hit five boundaries and it looked like a belter of a wicket to score runs. Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan put up a good partnership and Pakistan looked good at 155-2 in 29 overs but that’s when Indian bowlers hit their strap.
Mohammed Siraj first cleaned up Babar Azam and after that Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah were all over Pakistan batsmen. The ball which knocked a set Rizwan was a peach and he followed up by knocking Shadab Khan with a similar rapper. From 155-2 Pakistan just folded up for 191 losing their last 8 wickets for just 36 runs folding up in 41.5 overs.
The disappointment was players like Imam-ul Haque, Azam and Rizwan all getting starts but not able to convert it into a big one to test the strong Indian batting. Skipper Azam was short of runs and getting his first 50 against India was good but not great for not converting it into a big one. This was his best chance to silence his critics, but it was not to be, and his wicket led to a total collapse which was like a pack of cards crashing down.
The good part about Indian bowlers was that they were not trying to contain the Pakistan batsman but pick wickets and that was the reason every bowler got two wickets except Thakur which showed the overall strength of Indian bowling. It was an absolute clinical performance which gave the full house their money’s worth. The match might not have been exciting, but the fans came to see their team in blue win and make it 8-0 against Pakistan in World Cups.
And when India batted, Rohit Sharma came out with full intent scoring 86 which flattened the Pakistan bowlers of any fight and India winning with more than 20 overs to spare making it once again a one-sided affair.
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