Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma called it right at the toss and elected to field first in the high-pressure match on Sunday. He handed over the ball to Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take the lead and start the proceedings. The lead bowler barged into the game right away as the first over from him turned out to be a dramatic one with both teams taking a review and one taken by Pakistan getting overturned.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t get any wicket in his first over but got the big fish in his next one. In the third over of the innings, Kumar dismissed the in-form Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for 10 runs and made things tough for the Men in Green.
Opener Mohammad Rizwan was in a mood to steady things up for his team while Fakhar Zaman kept finding boundaries at the other end. However, Indian bowlers tried to keep it tight and didn’t allow the duo to score boundaries with ease.
Avesh Khan, eventually, got India the second wicket. In what was the last over of the powerplay, Avesh Khan picked up Fakhar Zaman’s scalp on the fifth ball. The spinners made it tougher for the Pakistan batters after the power play. M Rizwan and I Ahmed tried to steady the ship but not for too long.
Hardik Pandya broke the partnership in the 13th over as he had Ahmed caught-behind for 28 off 22. One over later, Rizwan also got out after scoring handy 43 runs in 42 balls, including 4 fours and 1 six. He top-scored for the team but the other batters didn’t make a significant contribution to the score.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with the ball for India, picking 4 for 26 in 4 overs, while Hardik Pandya returned with 3 wickets. Thanks to those valuable spells, Pakistan were restricted to 147 runs in the first innings despite Shahnawaz Dahani’s late flourish with the bat.
Indian openers marched onto the field in a bid to chase the target easily until debutant Naseem Shah removed KL Rahul for a golden duck on the very second ball of the first over.
Powerplay ended with both teams sharing equal momentum as neither team looked like winning the match. The match was equally poised to make it a more thrilling one. Mohammad Nawaz’s arrival changed things as he got rid of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in quick succession.
Suryakumar Yadav’s (18) wicket in the 14th over brought a lot of tension in the Indian camp. However, Indian batters Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja joined hands to ensure that Men in Blue crossed the line with five wickets to spare albeit the latter perished in the last over. India ended up crushing Pakistan with five wickets to spare in what turned out to be a last over thriller. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting tweets that fans came up with after the match:
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in a different zone today.
— Shaoni Das (@ShaoniDas7) August 28, 2022
Bhuvaneshwar and Hardik 💥🔥✨#INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/2Uq9PTSTYo
— Krishna (@Krishnaganth_) August 28, 2022
Hardik yu beautyyyy 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Wt a Victory 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 Tat was super sweet ❤️❤️❤️ March on BoyZz #INDvPAK
— Prithvi krishna (@prithvikrish) August 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/Itz_Salvatore/status/1563954869630750720?s=20&t=WBK_MFtwfXND4kiLN6PFpw
What a match!!! What a win for Team India!!! What a fantastic all round performance by @hardikpandya7 – 33 no in 17 balls and 3/25. He is a Super Star!!! 2022 is his year. Period. #AsiaCup2022 #INDvPAK @BCCI
— Nikhil Ram (@Nikhil_Rams) August 28, 2022
Chak de chak de India 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳#INDvsPAK #INDvPAK #IndiaVsPakistan #AsiaCup2022
— Bansal's (@Corona_bs_krona) August 28, 2022
PANDYAAA! WHAT A SHOT TO FINISH THE GAME! What a game today. Brilliant partnership to bring home the win. Starting the Asia Cup with a win. 🙌🏼🇮🇳 #India #TeamIndia #IND #BharatArmy #COTI #AsiaCup2022 #INDvPAK
— 🅿️remCFCPatel ✯✯ (@PremCFCPatel26) August 28, 2022
35(34) is not a t20 score but can get away with the context of the game. And the big plus would be relieving the shackles of his out of form thing. Hope it gets only better 🤞#ViratKohli𓃵 #INDvPAK
— ^ BudweiseR ^ (@AntonyVK18) August 28, 2022
Have to say pakistan bowling🔥🔥🔥.. #INDvPAK
— Vivek Regmi (@rv_regmi) August 28, 2022
Hardik Pandyaaaaaaaa Match winner!! #INDvPAK
— UTDArch (@UTDArch1) August 28, 2022
Ravindra Jadeja is lucky charm for India #INDvPAK
— Ram Soni (@ram_soni1909) August 28, 2022
