Pakistan chases 324 after Indian batsmen have a blast

India’s batting might came to the fore in a blaze of glory against a light-on-experience Pakistan side that was left hurting, literally so on a couple of occasions, after the first half of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Group B game on Sunday.

Easily the most high-profile and hype-accompanied match of the tournament, India v Pakistan had the stands full, the atmosphere buzzing and fans screaming at Edgbaston, and those who came to watch had plenty to cheer in the first half, with India powering to an impressive 319 for 3 in what became a 48-overs-a-side contest after rain interruptions.

After being put in by Sarfraz Ahmed, India’s innings was largely in third gear, courtesy a sedate Rohit Sharma, who did top score with 91 but took 119 balls to do so. The impetus at the start was provided by Shikhar Dhawan’s 68 off 65. But the real kicker came at the death, when Yuvraj Singh blasted his way to 53 off 32 and Virat Kohlishowed his mastery of the One-Day International game once again in exploding to 81 not out off 68. For good measure, Hardik Pandya hit three sixes in the final over, bowled by Imad Wasim, to be 20 not out off just six deliveries.

There were two rain stoppages during the innings, which meant Pakistan would have to chase a daunting 324 in their 48 overs. Whether it gets all those overs of course depends on whether the rain keeps away, with the heavens opening up for a third time even as India’s innings was drawing to a close.

India’s start was steady, with Mohammad Amir in particular keeping the batsmen quiet. Initially, Rohit began to open out more while Dhawan sussed the conditions, but importantly, neither men let slip an opportunity steal a single or convert one into two. Pakistan’s less than stellar fielding aided India and when the first rain interruption came, it was 46 without loss in 10 overs, with Pakistan not having established a stranglehold despite good bowling.

Shortly after play resumed following a 49-minute stoppage, Dhawan got his range. It didn’t matter that the Power Play was over, Dhawan still found the fence, choosing Wahab Riaz for special treatment. He took three consecutive fours off the pacer in the 20th over, and India was up and away after that.

Shadab Khan, the leg-spinner, still troubled the batsmen, with his wrong ‘un often going unspotted, but the openers seemed intent on attacking him nonetheless. The opening stand was worth 136 when it was broken unexpectedly, with Dhawan hitting a Shadab full toss straight to deep mid-wicket.

Kohli kept busy from the start, but wasn’t really dominant. With Rohit also being tied down, the second-wicket stand progressed sluggishly, though another rain interruption, this one lasting 47 minutes, didn’t help with India 173 for 1 in 33.1 overs.

Rohit seemed just about ready to break the shackles, having hit a six and four off Wahab – when he was run out, having dived to make his crease but the impact lifting his bat off the ground. That brought Yuvraj out, and immediately the run-rate picked up. Yuvraj was dropped by Hasan Ali at long-off, a straightforward chance being put down off Shadab when he was on eight. He made Pakistan pay dearly, and its luck too turned bad, with Amir limping off after bowling the first ball of his ninth over with a knee injury. To make matters worse, Wahab too had to go off after slipping on the follow through, ending a sorry day with 8.4-0-87-0. Amir had bowled impressively, giving up only 32 runs in 8.1 overs while Shadab's bowling was much better than the 1 for 52 in 10 overs his figures showed.

It was the worst time to lose two of their frontline bowlers for Pakistan, with Kohli having hit his customary zone. Kohli reached fifty with a stunning straight six off Hasan, and from then on he simply deposited the ball where he wished. On reaching fifty, Kohli let out a yell and punched his gloves fiercely together, almost as a release. Including that shot, the last 11 balls he faced disappeared for 36 runs, including one stunning cover drive off Hasan that had the entire stadium gasping and oohing. At the other end, Yuvraj’s timing was in full flow which meant a cascade of runs, 72 coming off the last four overs.

Yuvraj fell in the penultimate over, trapped lbw by Hasan on review, but by then the damage had been done. Pandya just made it worse for Pakistan.

Click here to follow the run chase.