2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Very Strong Performance, Nine Out Of Ten To The Boys – Virat Kohli
Nov 2, 2023 at 3:48 PM
India defeated Pakistan by a handsome margin of 124 runs in the much-awaited tournament opener at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India outclassed its opposition completely and wrapped up the so-called high-pressure game pretty easily.
After being put into bat first by Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, India, riding on the classy batting performances from the top order, posted 319/3 on the scoreboard.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan kicked off the proceedings with a-136 runs stand to lay the platform for a good total. Skipper Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh later capitalised on the opportunity and further compounded the score by ensuring a healthy run rate.
Hardik Pandya, who came in to bat in the penultimate over, gave a stellar finish to the innings by hammering 19 runs from the last five deliveries in the final over, including a hat-trick of sixes off the first three balls, before Kohli pulled off the curtains on the first innings with a cracking boundary.
Pakistan, in reply, could not match the efficiency with which India batted earlier in the day. All they could manage was 164 before getting all out. The story was pretty similar to what had been happening in the recent past during the Indo-Pak game.
The Men in Green did not show any intent in during the chase and kept losing wickets at regular intervals before fading out completely. Only opener Azhar Ali was able to produce a decent knock, hitting 50 off 65 deliveries. The next best was from Mohammad Hafeez who hit 33 from 43 deliveries. Others simply could not convert the small starts and added to the misery.
India skipper Virat Kohli was happy with his team’s performance today. ‘Here is what he had to say about the win:
“With the bat and ball, right up there – I would say nine out of 10. In the field, we were still 6 today. Very strong performance, we’ve taken the confidence from the practice games. We need to tighten our fielding to compete hard against the best teams. Quite delighted with all batsmen chipping in with runs. Shikhar and Rohit – last time we won here, the opening partnership was crucial.”
“Rohit took some time going, but he’s coming back from an injury, and international cricket is different to IPL. I felt like a club batsman while playing alongside Yuvi, the way he was hitting the ball. And Hardik, 18 off five balls, was outstanding. We went with four seamers purely because we’re playing Pakistan. They play spin really well, and most of them are right-handers. In pressure situations, to have mid-on, mid-off up and hit hard lengths, gives us an advantage. Against other sides, we might use two spinners, depending on their strengths.”