Chase Master Kohli Guides India to Victory Against Pakistan
IND vs PAK High-Octane Match
Kohli Guides India to Victory against Pakistan: The Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday has witnessed the greatest T20 chase of all times. Virat Kohli’s heroics made India defeat their arch rival Pakistan by 4 wickets in the first encounter of the T20 World Cup 2022.
This is how Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam reacted on India's stunning victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022.
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) October 23, 2022
#ViratKohli #INDvPAK #T20WorldCup #T20WC2022 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/bt0MOqZX89
First Innings
Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against Pakistan. The Indian bowlers gave the fiery start making the full use of the help being offered from the pitch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t allow Pakistani batsman to open their hands in the first over. On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh got World Number 3 Babar Azam out leg before in the very first ball of the second over. World Number 1 player Rizwan was also the victim of Arshdeep’s short ball scoring four runs.
Pakistan Partnership
As Fakhar Zaman was not in the playing XI, Masood’s job was to play the role of the initiator of the innings. He allowed Iftikhar to show an aggressive game. Rohit handed the ball to Mohammed Shami in the last over of the powerplay while spinner Ashwin came to bowl in the ninth over.Iftikhar hit four sixes in five balls but Shami broke the 76-run partnership for the third wicket by getting him leg before in the second spell. Pandya sent Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Mohammad Nawaz to the pavilion. Shaheen Shah Afridi played some fine shots to take Pakistan past 150. Arshdeep and Hardik got 3 wickets each.
Unbeaten Fifty by Shan Masood
Batting at number 3, Shan Masood scored a half century for Pakistan. He remained unbeaten till the end, scoring 52 off 42 balls. Iftikar Ahmed also scored 51 runs in just 34 balls to help Pakistan post 159 runs on the board.
Slow Chase in the Second Innings
Pakistan were off to a dream start in their defence of 160 runs. Naseem Shah bowled Kl Rahul & Rauf sent Rohit back to pavillion for 4 runs each. In form Surya was dismissed for 15 runs and Axar was run out for 2 runs putting India in deep trouble.
Chase Machine Mode-On
But Hardik Pandya joined Virat Kohli to put on 113 runs stand to bring India back into the game. Outstanding performance by Chase-master Kohli. India required 51 runs in 21 balls, and the chase was looking very tough, but once again Virat Kohli smacked Shaeen Afridi for 2 fours & Haris Rauf for 2 sixes in the 19th over.
Virat Kohli Lead to Victory
He guided India to victory, in the last 5 overs as everything touched his bat was going for a boundary. Virat scored unbeaten 82 runs in just 53 balls with the help of four sixes.
Ashwin Match Winning Shot
Massive credit to Ravi Ashwin for the way he faced those last two HUGE balls. Only he could’ve stayed that calm for the wide. One of the most “present” cricketers I’ve ever seen. What a finish! What a Game!
Player of the Match (POTM)
Who else but him?! 👀
— ICC (@ICC) October 23, 2022
For mastering yet another chase, Virat Kohli is the @aramco POTM 🌟 pic.twitter.com/ExRAyOTZtl
Virat Kohli Guides India to Victory Against Pakistan at MCG and wins the man of the match award for his brilliant innings. In the post-match presentation, Kohli confessed that this was his best T20 innings. Click here to check complete list of Aramco Player of the Match Award list (POTM).
