Centuries from stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan helped India cruise to an easy nine-wicket win in the Super Four match of the Asia cup on Sunday.
After the bowlers’ restricted Pakistan to just 237, openers Rohit and Dhawan didn’t take much time to complete the chase as they did it in 39.3 overs to help India proceed to the finals of the competition.
Sarfraz Ahmed’s decision to bat first on a bowling friendly wicket didn’t prove to be too useful a decision as his openers -Fakhar Zaman and Imam-Ul Haq struggled against the Indian pacers. However, it was Yuzvendra Chahal who drew first blood after he trapped Ul-Haq in front of the wicket. Zaman was the next to follow and his 44- ball stay at the crease for his 31 runs was brought to an end by chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who had the opener lose his balance and fall down.
A run out of Babar Azam further added to their woes and it was a 107-run stand that redeemed the side as Shoaib Malik (78) and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (44( planned on rebuilding the innings.
But with the dismissals of both these batsmen, India had once again gained control over the match and it was only a matter of time that they restricted Pakistan to a low total after a disciplined effort from the bowlers.
In reply, the Dhawan-Rohit duo looked like an absolute dominant force as they scored runs with ease and didn’t look uncomfortable at all. While Rohit remained unbeaten on 111, Dhawan’s stylish 114 was brought to an end by a run-out but that hardly mattered as India registered their biggest win over their arch-rivals in terms of margin of runs.
Brief score: India 238/1 (Dhawan 114, Rojit 111*) beat Pakistan 237/7 (Malik 78, Safraz 44, Bumrah 2/29) by nine wickets.