Dubai,feb 23
Virat Kohli has set his sights on 51st ODI century as India are close to victory against Pakistan in Dubai. Shreyas Iyer fell at the score of 56, and Hardik Pandya also departed soon after.Earlier, Kohli became the fastest batter to score 14,000 ODI runs as he reached the landmark against Pakistan in their Champions Trophy clash in Dubai on Sunday.Shaheen Afridi struck early, removing Sharma at 20 runs off 15 balls.Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav was the star with the ball, picking up 3 wickets as India bowled Pakistan out for 241 runs. Saud Shakeel was the top scorer for Pakistan with 62 runs, while Khushdil Shah’s valuable 38 helped the hosts reach nearly the 250-run mark, despite losing wickets at regular intervals.While pacer Mohammed Shami was a little troubled with a shin injury in the very first over, Hardik Pandya took the charge as Indian bowlers put a great show to restrict Pakistan at 241 runs during the much-awaited Champions Trophy tie in Dubai on Sunday.The Pakistan batters were back to the hut with two balls to spare. Pandya returned with 2/31 in 8 overs at an economy of 3.87— to fill in for Shami who also bowled eight overs and was out of the filed for nearly 25 minutes.Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav once again spun the web for Pakistan, as he accounted 3/40.
Harshit Rana, who bowled a splendid last over by conceding only one run, claimed one and Axar Patel, who recorded two run outs, also accounted one.Earlier, Saud Shakeel and Mohammed Rizwan steadied the Pakistan innings with a 104-run stand to help Pakistan recover from 47/2.
However, Yadav and Pandya bagged two wickets each with the former missing a hat-trick, taking India to a strong position.Shakeel top-scored for Pakistan with a 62 off 76 balls, while skipper Mohammad Rizwan posted 46 off 77 balls.Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja bagged a wicket each to reduce Pakistan to 213/7 at the end of the 45th over.Khusdil Shah, who fought valiantly against New Zealand in the tournament opener, was in the company of Naseem Shah heading into the final five overs of the game.Khushdil contributed 38 off 39 balls, and was the last man out for Pakistan.India have gotten the better of Pakistan in the last two ICC events with the Men in Blue defeating their archrivals in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup. India have a psychological edge of staying unbeaten against Pakistan in the last six ODIs (including the 2023 Asia Cup group stage washout) since 2018.
Pakistan, the first-ever team in the history of the sport to play in another country while being the host, will look to extend their Champions Trophy winning streak against India. On the other hand, fresh from a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the tournament opener, India is seeking sweet revenge for their 2017 final loss.
Pakistan have beaten India in three out of five matches in the Champions Trophy, including the 2017 final.India have won nine of their last 11 completed ODIs against Pakistan, across the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(wk/captain), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
