The target was only 120 runs with 120 fair deliveries needed to be bowled. The conditions were better than it was when the opponent India batted, as the sun came out to soak up the early moisture of the surface. The stage was set for Pakistan, and what did they do? They do what they are known for accepting defeat from the jaws of victory.
Till the last five overs of the defence from the India team, hardly one believed that the game could come that close, as the target was 10-15 runs less than what could have sealed the deal for the blue brigade at the end of the first innings with the bat in hand.
But Pakistan, from a winning situation of 48 runs required in 48 balls, with seven wickets in hand, decided to put pressure on their shoulders.
‘We heard two loud noises…’- Delhi police trolls Pakistan for defeat to India
Winning the toss, without any hesitation, India was invited to bat first on the surface under the over-cast conditions at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, by Pakistan captain Babar Azam. The India captain Rohit Sharma made a great start with a six in the opening over, while Virat Kohli showed his class with a beautiful cover drive.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Kuldeep Yadav Reveals Secret Behind Emerging As Kuldeep 2.0
Naseem Shah, however, drew the first blood with the wicket of Virat, while Sharma too joined him early. Axar Patel, promoted in the batting order did a good job, while Rishabh Pant was taking fielding classes of the Pakistan team.
At 89/3 in the 11 overs mark, it looked like the game was swinging in the hands of the Indian team, as they could aim to get the 160-run mark, which should be the winning total on this surface. But a brilliant over from Mohammad Amir, where he picked up two back-to-back wickets of both Ravindra Jadeja and Pant changed the momentum, as the 2007 champions were bundled out for just 119.
Pakistan made a steady start with the bat in hand, before losing Babar who edged Jasprit Bumrah to the lone slip fielder. When it comes to how Rizwan should play, the game plan was not playing dot balls, and it was the exact opposite of what he did. With more dots, the pressure mounts over the Green brigade and the batter himself.
The moment the wicket-keeper batter went out, the rest of the batting order fell like a pack of cards. The shot that he tried to slog against Bumrah was not needed at all against the quality of the specific bowler.
There was a low full toss on the pads of Iftikhar Ahmed, and the only thing he needed to do was get some bat on it, with the fine-leg up in the circle to earn a boundary. He got bat, but found the fielder in the square region, as the hope died for the Pakistan side, who fell short by six-runs in the clash.
The whole country along with the fans in New York celebrated as the Delhi Police’s tweet didn’t go unnoticed where they tagged the New York Police Department and brought the fact how the sub-continent fans would break their television sets from now.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Can Pakistan Still Qualify For The ‘Super Eight’ Stage
‘Hey @NYPDnews, We heard two loud noises. One is ‘Indiaaa…India!’, and another is probably of broken televisions. Can you please confirm?’ The tweet went viral.
Coming in the post-match press conference, Rohit termed Bumrah as a ‘genius with the ball’, and lauded how the entire bowling unit bowled.
‘Bumrah is going from strength to strength. We’ve seen him over the years what he can do, I’m not going to talk too much about it. He is a genius with the ball, we know that, but hats off to the other guys as well,” The India captain praised Bumrah, who ended with 3/14 in four overs.