Pakistan suffered a 4-wicket defeat against India, in their Super 12 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Sunday.
Chasing 160, Team India suffered a top-order collapse but Virat Kohli stood like a last hope and smashed an unbeaten 82-run knock which guided the Rohit Sharma-led side to a thrilling last-ball win.
Apart from him, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya scalped three wickets each to restrict Pakistan at 159/8, with Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed scoring a half-century each.
After the defeat, skipper Babar Azam, who failed to open his account in the game, addressed his team in the dressing room and said, “It was a good match. We put in the efforts like always, some mistakes happen. But from those mistakes, we have to learn, we shouldn’t fall. The tournament has just started, we have a lot of matches left, remember that.”
“Nobody should fall. In the end, I would say that we didn’t lose because of one person. We lost as a team. Nobody should put out fingers on one person, this should not happen, not in this team. We have to stick together, remember that. We also had good performances, so look at those also. We made some mistakes and now we will work on them,” he added.
Team India needed 16 runs off the last over when the ball was handed to spinner Mohammad Nawaz. He could not save his side from losing although he did manage to take the game to the last ball. Babar praised Nawaz for his spirit and the fact that he took the game to the last ball.
“Don’t worry Nawaz, you are match winner, I will always have the belief in you. You will win matches for me. The effort was really good. It was a pressure game but you took it close, very well done,” said Babar Azam.
In the match between India and Pakistan, Rohit Sharma had won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan were restricted to 159/8 in 20 overs.
Chasing 160, India were 31/4 in the 7th over, but Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya put on 113 runs for the fifth wicket and this stand was broken in the final over of the game by Nawaz when he dismissed Hardik, who scored 40 runs.
However, Kohli was able to steer the chase in the final over, helping India script a memorable win.
