The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York was a sea of blue and green as India and Pakistan faced off in a cricket match that can only be described as exhilarating and tense. India continued Pakistan’s shaky start to the T20 World Cup, defeating Babar Azam and his Pakistan team by six runs in the penultimate match of the tournament.
Sunday’s match got off to a slow start with light rain halting the match twice, but the Pakistan team quickly gained momentum after Usman Khan took the wicket of Virat Kohli, setting the stage for Indian wickets to fall as the match progressed. The Indian batting order collapsed before the end of all 20 overs and the team set their opponents a target of 130 runs.
According to figures released by the ICC during the match, the stadium was packed with over 34,000 spectators, but Pakistan struggled to achieve their target. Pakistan, who lost to newcomers to the T20 World Cup, the United States, began their innings with Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan. However, Azam could only score 13 runs, with Suryakumar Yadav taking his wicket with a catch. The rest of Pakistan’s batting was also below average, and the team managed to chase 113 runs at the end of the 20th over, but lost the match.
Jasprit Bumrah was named Man of the Match for his ‘exceptional bowling’.
“I’ve lost my sense of purpose”
At the post-match press conference, Pakistan coach Gary Christen said that Pakistan had suffered a “disappointing defeat” due to poor decisions. In the match predictions, many were confident that Pakistan would win the match, as they had won the coin toss and elected to bat first.
“It was good until the 15th over. [while batting] And we lost sight of the plan,” Kristen said.
Meanwhile, Azam said their plan was to play “simple cricket” and that they started well with the bat but lost wickets and “it took too many balls to get going”. The Pakistan cricket team captain added that the players did not live up to expectations in the powerplay. However, they have reflected on these two matches and are looking forward to the next two.
When is the next match between Pakistan and India?
India will next play against the United States on June 12 at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York.
Meanwhile, Pakistan will play their next match against Canada at the same venue on June 11.
Social media reactions
The defeat sparked mixed reactions on social media, with Pakistani users slamming their team’s performance while Indian fans praised their team for their strong bounce back in the second half of the match.
India Playing XI
- Rohit Sharma (Captain)
- Hardik Pandya (Vice-Captain)
- Virat Kohli
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Rishabh Pant (WK)
- Shivam Dube
- Rabindra Jediya
- Akshar Patel
- Arshdeep Singh
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Shirazi
Pakistan Playing XI
- Babar Azam (Captain)
- Mohammed Rizwan
- Fakhar Zaman
- Usman Khan
- Shadab Khan
- Imad Wasim
- Iftikhar Ahmed
- Mohammed Amir
- Naseem Shah
- Shaheen Afridi
- Harris Rauf
Saman Shafiq is a featured news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @saman_shafiq7.