Lucky 13th
And so, in their 13th World Cup match against India, Pakistan have finally won against their neighbours. They have done so without losing a wicket, and with 13 balls to spare. I sign off with a teaser from my match report here.
In their 13th attempt in World Cups, Pakistan finally managed to beat India, and did so comfortably on a night when almost everything went to plan for them. With the sensational uprooting of the openers with the new ball, Shaheen Shah Afridi was the brightest star of the night, but everyone in the support cast played their role well, including a nerveless chase by the openers.
The first half of the match was as if Pakistan were playing on the white board. Afridi, you pick me early wickets. Imad Wasim, you bowl cheap Powerplay overs against their right-hand top order. Hasan Ali, we need one impactful over in the first 10 from you. Mohammad Hafeez, you can finish Imad’s overs if we get left-hand batter Rishabh Pant in. Shadab Khan, you control the middle overs. Haris Rauf, at the end of the innings, pace is pace yaar. And change of pace is change of pace yaar.
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The firm
That 130 not out is tonight.
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Fifties for openers
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Pakistan take Varun down finally
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They have finally got the better of Varun. For his last over, he is given the end with the short leg-side boundary, and he drops just a little short twice and is taken for sixes by both the batters. At 101 for 0 in 13 overs, Pakistan are now 92% favourites to win.
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Babar breaks free
After that 23-ball boundary-less spell, Babar pounces on the first error from jadeja and pulls him over the short leg-side boundary for a six. Then he gets a four off Varun in the next over. Pakistan must be breathing easier now at 71 for 0 in 10 overs. Their win probability is 73.34% now.
One Varun over, three Bumrah overs to come.
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Three overs without a boundary
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Since the start of the sixth over, Pakistan have not hit a single boundary. They are digging themselves a hole against some pretty good spin bowling from Jadeja and Varun. At 52 for 0 in eight overs, they are now 60.03% favourites to win. But we have seen this movie before in the IPL, haven't we? You don't want to leave yourself too much to do at the end. In Pakistan's favour, there seems to be some dew out there.
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Pakistan take the Powerplay
But only just. Because if you have not lost a wicket in the Powerplay, you want more than 43. And the real test for Pakistan might be Varun's three remaining overs. Rizwan has kept the momentum going with 25 off 19. Their win probability is now 66.78.
And with two right-hand batters in the middle, India will now go to Jadeja
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6.22 Varun Chakravarthy's economy-rate in the Powerplay in this year's IPL to go with five wickets at 22.4.
And India have introduced Varun as early as the fourth over to trouble the Pakistan openers and concede just two runs in the over. Pakistan 24 for 0 after four overs. Their win probability is now 56% having dropped from 60.4 at the start of the innings.
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The back-foot cover drive
Bobby Prince aka Babar Azam. We will debate your strike-rate etc. later. That square-drive off the back foot to a good ball from Shami was beautiful.
Pakistan are 18 for 0 in two overs.
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Jadeja's intent
It was an innings of set pieces where quite a few players played their role. Shaheen Shah got early wickets, Imad Wasim bowled inside the Powerplay, Hasan hustled with pace in the middle overs, Shadab controlled the middle overs, Haris Rauf was immense with his pace and slower ones at the back end. Once India lost early wickets, Virat Kohli took the anchor's role, Rishabh Pant played the disruptor, and Hardik Pandya looked for big hits at the end. In between, India promoted Ravindra Jadeja to take on the leggie and also maintain right-left going. However, in his 13-ball stay, Jadeja tried to hit just two boundaries. One of them was a four, the other got him out, and he went at a run a ball. India can't be happy with that knock.
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Tough chase historically
154 The highest Pakistan have scored to win a chase in the UAE
Here is their successful chases in the Emirates. This will be their second-highest successful chase there if they win this.
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Kohli's strike-rate
1 Number of Kohli's fifty-plus scores in T20Is, out of 29, that have ended with a slower strike-rate than the 116.32 today
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Kohli gets out to Pakistan
226 Kohli's average against Pakistan in T20 World Cups. He has finally got out to them.
Utter chaos to the 19th over after Afridi sends back Kohli with a slower bouncer. The last ball is a full toss, but also a no-ball on the front foot. The free hit is a good ball, beating Pandya, but Bhuvneshwar calls him through for a bye to turn over the strike. Afridi has a wild shy at the non-striker's and gives away four byes. Poor backing up from the long-on fielder. India 144 for 6 after 19 overs.
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Most fifty-plus scores in T20 World Cup
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Four slower balls
In the 17th over, with a set Kohli looking dangerous, Haris Rauf, who kept flirting 150 clicks in his first over, has bowled four slower balls in a row. Two of them were singles, two dots to Kohli. That's a great 17th over, but is that sign of grip in this pitch? And Kohli is not taking any blind risks. He is still looking for the bad ball. Perhaps he has decided 140-150 is a good score on this surface.
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Kohli looking for death overs
202.96 Kohli's strike-rate in the death overs in all T20 cricket. Among batters who faced at least 200 balls in that phase, only de Villiers, Gayle and Russell have a higher strike-rate
Kohli is still unbeaten as we speak in the 16th over. He is 41 off 38, India 104 for in 15.3. Our Forecaster gives them 148, which seems conservative to me. Pakistan have two overs from Rauf, and one each from Afridi and Hasan.
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Jadeja before Pandya
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This is what Hardik Pandya did to Shadab Khan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final to go with three consecutive sixes off Imad Wasim in the league match. However, India are going ahead with the right-left combination and have promoted Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Pandya at the fall of Pant's wicket to a wrong'un from Shadab. India 84 for 4 in 12.2 overs.
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One-handed sixes?
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Pant seems to have hit two of those off Hasan Ali back to back in the 12th over. Now with most of these seemingly one-handed sixes, the bottom hand comes off only after the batter has made the connection. It is often a result of swinging so hard the bat swings out of the bottom hand's grip. But with both these sixes, Pant lost the bottom hand even more making connection: one flew over square leg and one over long-off. The momentum in the bat swing was created by both the hands, but at the point of connection, Pant had only one hand on the bat, and that is incredible.
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Pace like fire
Haris Rauf is introduced in the 11th over, and he shows immediately why with his extreme pace. I didn't catch the pace on the first and the last ball of the over, but here is what he did with the middle five:
144kmph, 144, 149, 147, 152
Five runs off that over. India 66 for 3 in 11 overs; our Forecaster gives them 150
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India vs West Indies - two different approaches
In two nights, India and West Indies have been asked to bat on what looks like the same pitch, and they both got off to similar starts, losing early wickets. Post the Powerplay, though, these two sides have batted differently. West Indies kept trying to hit sixes, India are banking on strike rotation and looking to get to 140 first and take anything over that as a bonus. Kohli will sit in and look to bat through with Pant taking the occasional risk. India are now 61 for 3 in 10 overs, setting up an interesting second half of the innings with Jadeja and Pandya still in the hut.
That West Indies approach is the perfect approach for flat pitches, but is it so for these trickier surfaces?
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Pakistan's Powerplay
Hasan Ali seals that Powerplay for Pakistan with the wicket os Suryakumar Yadav in the sixth over. The short-of-a-length ball gets big on Suryakumar as he looks to punch it away. It might have held its line too, and the edge settles with the diving Rizwan.
Kohli ends the Powerplay with an imperious square-drive for four, but at 36 for 3, Pakistan will be the happier side after the initial exchanges.
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The six
Virat Kohli doesn't do this usually. He sets himself to bat through and takes no risks if wickets have fallen early. He is 8 off 13. He has played three straight dots. He has been standing outside the crease to Afridi, but this time he backs away early, shows the wicket to the bowler, who pulls the length back and follows him. Kohli still has enough room to swing his hands through it. Goes flat over mid-on for a six. Looks away. Lets the bat stand against his legs. Undoes his gloves. Does them again. It is on
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Suryakumar checks in
Two early wickets, and we know Virat Kohli is going to now look to bat through the innings. It is imperative that the batter at the other end be more enterprising, and Suryakumar Yadav - in his first World Cup match - has done just that. In the third over, he took on deep backward square leg on the hook. It was a risk, but he had to take that risk. He cleared him. Only just. To the last ball of the fourth over, he said I am not going to let you bowl dots and singles, Imad Wasim. The sweep came out and out came another boundary.
At 21 for 2 after four overs, Pakistan say we are going all out on attack and have given Afridi a third over inside the Popwerplay.
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Afridi on fire
Bowl fast, bowl straight, swing it in, aim for the stumps. Uff that late flick of the wrist to put all the action on the ball. KL Rahul is bowled top of middle with that late movement. India 6 for 2 in 2.1 overs.
Two slips in, India not breaking the right-hand batters up and sticking with Suryakuymar Yadav at No. 4.
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Be afraid, be very afraid
Osman Samiuddin said it. Are you a T20 opener facing Shaheen Shah Afridi? Be afraid, be very afraid.
Rohit Sharma has scored a golden duck to a swinging full straight delivery in the first over. That is some skill.
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Left-arm against India's right-hand top order
The first match-up for the night is likely going to be Pakistan opening with two left-arm bowlers: pace and swing of Shaheen Shah Afridi and left-arm spin of Imad Wasim. India's top three are all likely to be right-hand batters with Virat Kohli following the opening pair of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. Here are some numbers then.
Since the start of 2018, in all T20 cricket, Rahul goes at 7.66 an over against left-arm pace and 7.79 against left-arm spin. The numbers for Rohit are 7.87 and 8.07, and 8.19 and 6.84 for Kohli.
Restrict it to the Powerplay, and we have Rahul going at 6.86 an over against left-arm pace and 8.7 against left-arm spin. The corresponding figures for Rohit are 6.71 and 7.47, and 7.16 and 6.9 for Kohli.
So, barring left-arm spin against Kohli, left-arm bowling against these batters is not a clear match-up, but it has not bad either for the bowlers. Afridi and Imad are well experienced in that role so there is no reason for Pakistan to not go with that opening combination.
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Pakistan chase, bank on experience
Babar Azam has won the toss and elected to field keeping the dew more than anything in mind. According to Dale Steyn, this is a fresh pitch, and not the one that produced 55 all out last night. According to Nasser Hussain, it is the same pitch. Make of it what you will.
Let's cut to combinations. Pakistan had named their XII yesterday, and have left out Haider, which means they have gone for the experience of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. They will have tow left-hand batters to bowl to, but their attack is varied and strong with left-arm pace and wristspin and right-arm pace all in there.
India are not taking the adventurous route themselves except for the mystery spin of Varun Chakravarthy. They have left out Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin, Rahul Chahar and Shardul Thakur. So they have Ravindra Jadeja at 7, followed by Bhunveshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun and Jasprit Bumrah.
India 1 KL Rahul, 2 RG Sharma, 3 V Kohli*, 4 SA Yadav, 5 RR Pant†, 6 HH Pandya, 7 RA Jadeja, 8 B Kumar, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 JJ Bumrah, 11 CV Varun
Pakistan 1 Babar Azam*, 2 Mohammad Rizwan†, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
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Head to head
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Just another game
Welcome to the Live Report of just another match in this T20 World Cup.
It just happens to be the first time these two teams are playing each other since the last time they met in the last World Cup. The significance of this match within the tournament is big because this group has three clear favourites in India, Pakistan and New Zealand, and three clearly weaker sides in Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. Now nobody is saying the top three can’t be beaten by the other three, but if they stay true to expectations and win all their matches against the bottom three, we have a triangular competition for only two to progress. So these matches between India, Pakistan and New Zealand become extremely crucial. And for all these three teams, these happen to be their first two games. So if all these three teams win against the other three, the November matches in this group could hold only net-run-rate relevance in terms of qualification for semi-finals.
Back to this game then. Two teams suited for these conditions with a lot of spinners and batters capable of batting in slower conditions. Two teams with a lot of experience, especially of playing in the UAE. India have mystery spin, Pakistan have left-arm pace. India have batting behemoths, Pakistan have allrounders and depth. Don’t confuse this game with the ODI World Cups, these two sides are as evenly matched as they were in 2007 when they produced a tie in the league stages and a last-over finish in the final.
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