India win comfortably over arch rivals Pakistan

India beat Pakistan by 89 runs (D/L method) on a rainy day. Rain stopped play twice. 

A dominant India beat Pakistan by 89 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit group match at Old Trafford to maintain their unbeaten World Cup record against their arch-rivals on Sunday.

Put into bat in a stop-start match, India posted a commanding 336-5 with Rohit Sharma (140) smashing his second century of the tournament.

Skipper Virat Kohli (77) and KL Rahul (57) also got fifty but Mohammad Amir's (3-47) tight death-overs spell denied India a 350-plus total in the sold out contest between the arch-rivals.

A century stand between Fakhar Zaman (62) and Babar Azam (48) kept alive Pakistan's hopes until they suffered a batting collapse and finished on 212-6 in 40 overs chasing a revised target of 302.

Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar claimed two wickets each for India who now have a 7-0 record against Pakistan in World Cup.

Rain reduces the match to 40 overs and the revised target for Pakistan in 302, meaning they will need 136 runs in five overs. 

Vijay Shankar bowled Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed in the 35th over before play came to a halt due to rain. The rain appears to be heavy and if play do not restart, India will win.

The par score after 35 overs is 254 and Pakistan are 86 runs behind that target according to the DLS. Pakistan are 166 for six after 35 overs.

Hardik Pandya was on a hattrick as he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in two consecutive balls on his fifth over. 

Pakistan looked to fight till the end as Fakhar and Babar looked good at the crease. However, four quick wickets, two a piece for Kuldeep and Pandya, put India on course for another win.

Imad Wasim and skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed look to just bat through the overs as the chances of Pakistan winning the match look bleaker every ball. 

Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets in two consecutive overs for India, as the two set batsmen Fakhar Zaman and Babar Zaman are sent back. 

Pakistan under pressure as the required run rate gradually increases. Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez are on to the field to take the innings till the end.

 

Kuldeep Yadav breaks through the defence of Babar Azam. 

Incredible delivery from a talented bowler. Everything about thE delivery was the kind of stuff dreams are made of for a left-arm wrists-pinner. Nicely tossed up, the ball drifts away gently across Babar, pitches and then wickedly spins back in. Babar was looking to get outside the line to block, but was completely deceived by the dip, and then because he played down the wrong line with a bit of gap between bat and pad, there was no second line of defence. Sneaked through the gap, clean bowled.

Babar Azam b Kuldeep Yadav 48 (57b 3x4 1x6) SR: 84.21

Fakhar Zaman reaches his half century as Pakistan move closer to the target.

Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam steady the ship for Pakistan as they score runs carefully and comfortably. The two batsmen are slowly building a partnership despite a stumping scare from Dhoni off Kuldeep Yadav's ball.

 

Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq in the early stages to Vijay Shankar as they look to chase a mammoth total of 337 runs. 

Shankar was brought in to bowl the two balls in an over where the Bhuvneshwar Kumar left with a minor injury scare after bowling four balls. 

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman try to score runs with no risk.

India looked to score 350+ runs at one stage but the Pakistan bowlers pulled it back. Mohammad Amir was the stand out bowler as he picked three wickets from his 10 overs. 

India's Rohit Sharma hit his second hundred in three innings to leave bitter rivals Pakistan needing to make World Cup history on Sunday.

Sharma's 140 was the centrepiece of India's 336 for five at Old Trafford as they looked to make it seven wins out of seven against Pakistan at the World Cup.

The most any side have made batting second to win a World Cup match is Ireland's 329 for seven against England at Bangalore in 2011.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli became the quickest player to 11,000 one-day international runs during his innings of 77.

The India captain reached the landmark in his 222nd innings, smashing compatriot Sachin Tendulkar's previous record of 276 innings.

Pakistan left-arm quick Mohammad Amir was his side's only threat with three for 47 despite two early warnings for running on the pitch.

Sharma and KL Rahul (57) got India off to a fine start with a first-wicket stand of 137 after Pakistan won the toss.

Their efforts were all the more impressive as they were opening together for the first time at this level.

Regular opener Shikhar Dhawan was sidelined with a thumb injury sustained while making a century in a victory over champions Australia last time out.

"I won't lie I was nervous. There was hype about this game," Rahul said.

"Conditions haven't been the best, the wicket has been under covers so we were thinking 280 was a good score. To get over 300 gives us a boost."

Sharma, who made 122 in India's opening win over South Africa and 57 against Australia, went to fifty in just 34 balls against Pakistan.

He got there in style with a six over long-on and a cut four, off successive deliveries from recalled leg-spinner Shadab Khan.

Rahul also brought his fifty up with a six, against off-spinner Shoaib Malik.

But he fell soon afterwards to Wahab Riaz who struck one ball after receiving two official warnings in consecutive deliveries for running on the pitch.

- Extraordinary Sharma-

Riaz, bowling from around the wicket, had Rahul chipping a tame catch to mid-off.

Sharma went into the 90s with an extraordinary square-cut six over paceman Hasan Ali.

Then a single off Shadab saw him to an 85-ball hundred including three sixes and nine fours. It was Sharma's 24th ODI century.

But a quickfire stand of 98 with Kohli ended when Sharma, trying a needlessly extravagant scoop, flicked Hasan straight to Wahab at short fine leg.

An annoyed Sharma slapped his bat against his pads in frustration.

Rain stopped play with India 305 for four in the 47th over, with Kohli then 71 not out.

But to the relief of tournament organisers, as well as a capacity crowd, with a World Cup record four matches having already been washed out, play resumed after 55 minutes with no overs lost.

Kohli added just six more runs to his score before, trying to hook Amir, he 'walked' for a catch behind by Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed despite replays appearing to show he didn't make contact with the ball.

Pakistan are currently ninth in the 10-team table and realistically need to beat India if they are to maintain their hopes of a top-four finish from the round-robin group stage that will see them into the semi-finals.

More than a billion fans were set to watch the match on television, while there were some 800,000 applications for tickets to watch the match at an Old Trafford ground where the maximum capacity is 26,000. (AFP)

Virat Kohli departed with only three overs remaining for India to reach their desired 350 runs.

Quick bouncer from Mohammad Amir, too quick for Kohli, who tried to swivel and pull it to fine leg. Got the faintest of edges, and a prolonged appeal moved the umpire's finger. 

V Kohli c †Sarfaraz Ahmed b Mohammad Amir 77 (65b 7x4 0x6) SR: 118.46

Drizzles around the stadium stopped play just as Pakistan looked to gain some momentum as they took wickets of MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya in quick successions. 

If India do not bat again, Pakistan will require 327 runs in 46 overs. In case of a 20-over match, Pakistan will have a 184-run target.

11,000 runs up for Virat Kohli as he scored a boundary off Hasan Ali.

Virat is the fastest batsman to reach 11,000 ODI runs as he took only 222 innings. He needed only 57 runs to reach the milestone and what better game than the one against their arch rivals, Pakistan to reach this feat. 

Kohli has played in 229 ODIs till the previous game against New Zealand in the World Cup and has batted in 221 of them scoring 10,943 runs at an average of 59.47. He has 41 hundreds and 50 half-centuries under his belt with 183 against Pakistan being his highest. The star batsman has remained not out 37 times.

He is already the fastest to 10,000 ODI runs which he reached in his 205th innings (213 matches) during the games against the West Indies on October 24, 2018 in Visakhapatnam.

Rohit Sharma finally falls after a impressive 140 off just 113 deliveries, an innings laced with 14 fours and three sixes. He looked visibly frustrated as this was an opportunity to really put Pakistan out of the game with a really big team total. India still have the firepower to go on and make a really challenging score in this game.

Rohit Sharma scored a scintillating century of 85 balls as India are cruising along. 

This is his 24th century in ODIs as he took a single off Shadab Khan from the last ball of the 29th over. 

Wahab Riaz sent KL Rahul back to the pavilion as the opening partnership of 136 runs by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul was broken in the 24th over.

Wahab Riaz pitched the ball up to Rahul, and the batsman looked to play on the front foot, and guide it through the covers. Instead, it spooned up to Babar Azam for the most comfortable catch he will ever take.

KL Rahul c Babar Azam b Wahab Riaz 57 (78b 3x4 2x6) SR: 73.07

A few inside edges here and there from Rohit Sharma but he has traded blows quite well with the Pakistan pace lineup after India were sent in to bat by Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed in the World Cup match in Manchester today. The new opening duo combined to notch the fourth century stand for India against Pakistan in a World Cup match.

Lokesh Rahul, who is opening the batting due to the injury to regular opener Shikhar Dhawan has looked solid so far. Mohammad Amir bowled four econmical overs but Pakistan leaked runs at the other end. They had a huge opportunity in the 10th over when the openers miscommunicated while running between the wickets. The fielder threw at the wrong end and Sharma survived and he proceeded to race to a 34-ball 50 as India reached 79 for no loss in 12 overs.

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and asked India to bat first in their ICC Cricket World Cup fixture in Manchester today.

This is the marquee match of this World Cup, and billions of people would be tuning in to their TV sets, radios and on the internet for updates of this match. Rain was forecast heavily for this match, but thankfully the skies seem to be clear for the time being. 

India versus Pakistan matches have, over the years, produced some heated rivalries and epic moments, be it at the World Cup or elsewhere, but its not always about rivalries and bitterness between these two neighbours. There are heartwarming stories, too, like this one, underneath the apparent tension.

India come into this match in fourth position, with five points from three matches. The men in blue are one of the two unbeaten teams of this World Cup so far, having beaten South Africa and defending champions Australia while the match against New Zealand being washed out. 

Pakistan, on the other hand, were blown away by the West Indies before resurrecting themselves with a thrilling win against hosts England. The green shirts then had their game against Sri Lanka washed out before losing against Australia despite a valliant fight in their last match. They sit second from bottom with three points from four games. 

Pakistan made two changes for this game.  Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim come back, replacing Asif Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi.Kohli Vijay Shankar replaces injured Shikhar Dhawan for India.

Playing XIs:

India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedhar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan:  1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Hasan Ali 11 Mohammad Amir