16.1 -
Ashwin to Sami, FOUR, a slog and four. Sami picks the offie and goes over backward square leg, no-one there and it is a one-bounce four. Connected sweetly
14.1 -
Ashwin to Sarfraz, FOUR, that's good batting. Sarfraz comes down the track and goes for a calculated blow, picked the spot as well, wide of long-on, got to the pitch off the offie and heaved it away, getting a boundary
13.2 -
Ravindra Jadeja to Sarfraz, FOUR, fabulous late dab. The width was there, not by much mind you, but Sarfraz went back and opens the face of the bat very late to get it well wide of short third, the ball beats the fielder and races away to the fence. Pakistan needed that boundary
7.4 -
Yuvraj to Sarfraz, FOUR, Sarfraz can counter-attack at will and we have seen that many a time. This was a bad ball, mind you, short and wide outside off, easy for Sarfraz to place the cut wide of backward point. Once he beat the fielder inside the ring, it was four. Releases the pressure a bit too
5.1 -
Bumrah to Shoaib Malik, leg byes, FOUR, sliding down leg, all it needed was a faint tickle, off the pad and runs away
3.5 -
Bumrah to Shoaib Malik, FOUR, top shot from Shoaib Malik. He always plays well against India. Never lets his team down. Stood on his toes, stayed beside the line of the ball and punched it past a diving RJ at point, Jadeja did his best, but the timing on that took it past the dive. No way that third man could've stopped that as well
3.1 -
Bumrah to Sharjeel Khan, FOUR, magnificent shot and first runs off Bumrah. It wasn't a bad ball at all, on a length on off, but Sharjeel Khan rocked back and muscled the short-arm jab wide of mid-on, pure timing on the shot and no chance for anyone on the field, once it went past the infield. The bottom hand took over and he gave it a mighty thwack. Certainly would've woken Bumrah up
2.1 -
Nehra to Manzoor, FOUR, takes the aggressive route and gets four. Clears his front leg and whacks the back of a length delivery on the stumps to deep mid-wicket, thumped the pull and it raced away
0.2 -
Nehra to Hafeez, FOUR, beautiful shot to get off the mark. That's Hafeez at his best. Leant on a full delivery outside off and then opened the bat face to get it between point and cover. Once he hit the gap, the quick outfield did the rest. That should give Hafeez a lot of confidence. He feeds off on strokes like those. Classy and with a high front elbow to boot
17.3 -
Pandya to Amir, out Bowled!! All over. This is a deflating performance from Pakistan. So deflating for their fans, that I wouldn't be surprised if some of them asked for their money back after watching this. Some might even leave now. At this moment. On a length and cuts back in, beats Amir's flat-footed poke and takes out middle. The stump stays on the ground presenting a sorry look and the same can be said about Pakistan's scorecard at the moment. And again Pandya does his sideways heel click ala Brett Lee and distinctly comes off second best in that one. The original is always better, Hardik. A piece of free advice from me. But one more look at the replay and must say it wasn't a bad second effort from him. Anyway India have an easy chase on their hands. Amir b Pandya 1(8)
17.2 -
Pandya to Sami, out Caught by Raina!! Call that genius captaincy or horrid bad batting. Pick one of the two depending on which team you support. But as Harsha Bhogle says on air, MS and Pandya wanted exactly the same shot from Sami after sending square leg back. Sami obliges and walks back. Quick bouncer from Pandya, hurried Sami onto the pull, the top edge settles in Raina's hands at deep square. As easy as it comes. Sami c Raina b Pandya 8(16) [4s-1]
15.1 -
Ravindra Jadeja to Sarfraz, out Bowled!! "Why would you want to look at that?" asks Harsha Bhogle on air. Exactly. Why? Can't understand this fascination of checking for the front foot no-ball when it's half-and-half. As far as I have seen, Ravindra Jadeja has bowled just one front foot no-ball. Here he is not even close. This was round-armish and slung in, came back a long way and completely beat Sarfraz on the cut, he exposed all three stumps and the ball cannoned into them. He wasn't expecting the ball to come back in so much. Waited for a moment when the third umpire had a look and then walked back disappointed. Sarfraz b Ravindra Jadeja 25(24) [4s-3]
11.4 -
Ravindra Jadeja to Riaz, out Lbw!! Folks, this is a mismatch. An absolute mismatch. It is like Barcelona playing against a fourth division side, running riot over them. Excuse me for that shameless plug of my favorite football team. I had to get it in somehow. So pathetic is Pakistan's state at this moment in time, one can have a look at their fans in the stands. A lady just shakes her head and wonders what is going on out there. Riaz had already decided that sweep was the shot to play, irrespective of where the ball pitched, plonked his big front foot forward and went across the line. The ball pitched middle and missed the bat to strike the batsman right in front. Plummb lbw that. Would've hit middle low down. Riaz lbw b Ravindra Jadeja 4(12)
8.0 -
Yuvraj to Afridi, out Afridi Run Out!! 1 run completed. Not very smart from Afridi. Or from Sarfraz even. Why would you want to take on the best fielder in both the teams and that too when your side are struggling to bat the twenty overs out. Mindless is the only word I have for that. And even that is putting it mildly. It was tucked to deep square leg, once the batsmen have seen it was Jadeja, they should've settled for one, but Afridi decides to take on the arm and despite his full-length dive, cannot beat the flat throw from the deep, right next to the stumps and MS demolishes them. Replays show that Kohli gave a cheeky little send-off as well. Afridi run out (Ravindra Jadeja/Dhoni) 2(2)
7.1 -
Yuvraj to U Akmal, out Lbw!! Yuvraj strikes and that's plumb. We are in for an early finish here folks! There I jinxed it. Now the match will end off the last ball. Angled in and kept a bit low, U Akmal played outside the line of the ball, missed the forward defence and the replays show that it was hitting middle. Cannot leave so much gap between bat and pad, clearly Akmal was late in getting his bat down in a straight line to play that. What a wicket for Yuvraj and India. And everyone are jumping on Yuvraj in celebration. U Akmal lbw b Yuvraj 3(4)
7.0 -
Pandya to Shoaib Malik, out Caught by Dhoni!! The fourth one goes. After cramping Shoaib Malik for room with wicket-to-wicket stuff, he dangles the carrot outside off and the batsman falls for it. Lovely full outswinger, inducing the drive and Shoaib Malik's balance was all wrong, as he drove without any feet and edged it behind. I wondered whether there was an edge on that after seeing MS take that. So nonchalantly done and then he belatedly appealed when he realised the umpire might not give it out. Meanwhile Pandya does a poor man's impression of Brett Lee, jumping high and clicking his heels in celebration. Shoaib Malik c Dhoni b Pandya 4(12) [4s-1]
5.5 -
Bumrah to Shoaib Malik, out Manzoor Run Out!! Kohli has hit direct and Manzoor is way out. A Pakistani fan in the stands just closes her mouth with her hands and is in disbelief. There was never a run there, it was pushed straight to the fielder and for some reason Manzoor set off, lost his bat in the process, once he did that, even a 5% chance of getting back was gone, but Kohli was so confident that he threw down the stumps with an overhead throw, without taking any time. Then the celebrations begin. A wasted wicket, when there was no run there. Not sure what went into Manzoor's mind there. Manzoor run out (Kohli) 10(18) [4s-1]
3.3 -
Bumrah to Sharjeel Khan, out Caught by Rahane!! The slower short ball has done it for Bumrah. Sharjeel Khan went hard on the cut and an innovative piece of captaincy from MS has to be appreciated as well, he has placed Rahane at around fourth slip, it went straight to him and he doesn't drop many, does he? Easy grab and Bumrah has consumed the other opener. The width was there, but it bounced extra and that's why it took the outside edge. Sharjeel Khan c Rahane b Bumrah 7(5) [4s-1]
0.4 -
Nehra to Hafeez, out Caught by Dhoni!! Hafeez walks. And Nehra begins his trademark celebration. Fingers waving and running forward. This was a lifter outside off, Hafeez went for a flashy square cut and the extra bounce took the outside edge, MS leapt a little and snaffled it without no problems. The length wasn't there for the shot and must say an ambitious stroke attempted by Hafeez. Maybe the four lulled him into a false sense of over confidence. Nehra strikes in his opening over. Hafeez c Dhoni b Nehra 4(4) [4s-1]