Roar Of Tigers In Melbourne Mutes Pakistan’s Noise

Melbourne: It was a nail-biting moment for both teams but luck favoured the Men in Blue.

The last ball single from Ashwin’s bat poured an ecstatic emotion among all Indian fans, who were present at the MCG today.

Splendid-Virat Kohli played one of the most memorable innings in the history of the T20 World Cup as he knocked an unbeaten 82 and India defeated Pakistan by four wickets in a last-ball thriller.

Chasing a target of 160, India were rocked early and lost their first four wickets with only 31 runs on the board. After that, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya staged a spectacular comeback for the Men in Blue, putting on a partnership of 113 runs off 78 deliveries. Even after Pandya’s departure, Kohli continued the fight for his side.

It all came down to the final two overs, with India needing 31 runs. Kohli struck two superb sixes off the last two balls of the 19th over, bowled by Haris Rauf, as India collected 15 runs. Off the fifth ball of the over, Kohli hit the ball over the bowler’s head for a six. Off the next delivery, Kohli sent the ball soaring over deep square leg for another maximum.

With 16 runs needed off the final over, India lost Hardik Pandya off the first delivery. The next two deliveries yielded three runs, which meant the equation read 13 off 3 balls. Kohli deposited a waist-high full toss from Mohammad Nawaz for six, and as it was a no-ball, 7 runs were added to the total.

The next ball was a wide, which meant India needed 5 off 3 balls. The fourth ball resulted in India getting three runs, and the equation came down to 2 off 2. Dinesh Karthik was stumped off the penultimate ball of the match. 2 off 1 now….

A wide under pressure meant that the scores were level. And finally, Ashwin struck the winning runs for India, as the Men in Blue pulled off victory from the jaws of defeat. Kohli sank to the ground, as India registered one of their most famous wins ever.

Inserted into bat by India, Pakistan posted a total of 159/8. Pakistan were reduced to 15/2 after 4 overs, with both their openers, Babar Azam (0) and Mohammad Rizwan (4) back in the pavilion. Arshdeep Singh snaffled both the batters.

However, Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed resurrected the innings and put on a crucial partnership of 76 runs for the third wicket. Both Masood (52*) and Iftikhar (51) scored half-centuries. Shaheen Shah Afridi then struck a quick 8-ball 16* lower down the order to propel his side to a competitive total.

Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya picked up three wickets each for India.

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