Asia Cup 2022: India register thrilling win over Pakistan

DUBAI: The crucial innings from Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya helped India defeat arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Jadeja smash 35 while Pandya hammered 33* in 17 balls. Virat Kohli scored 35 in 3 balls. For Pakistan Mohammad Nawaz bagged three and Naseem Shah took two wickets.

Chasing 148 runs, India got off to a shaky start as they lost their opener, KL Rahul, without even scoring a run.

With one wicket loss, the Indian experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Kohli steadied the ship.

At that point, Kohli's wicket put India under pressure, but that was instantly eased by Jadeja who smashed Nawaz for a six. After 10 over India's score read 62/3.

Suryakumar Yadav then joined Jadeja in smashing Pakistan bowlers all around the ground. Both batters played some big shots with grit to keep India's run chase hunt alive.

Pakistan made a stunning comeback in the match as their bowler Naseem Shah bowled out Suryakumar Yadav after scoring 18 runs in 18 balls. All-rounder Hardik Pandya came to the crease to join hands with Jadeja.

In the 18th over equation for the win went down to 32 runs needed in 18 balls. Jadeja smashed a four and a six in the 18th over of the innings.

In the 19th over Pandya smashed three boundaries and took India to near the win as they needed seven runs in six balls. In the last over Nawaz gave a big blow to the Indian team as he dismissed Jadeja after scoring 35 runs in 29 balls.

Dinesh Karthik then came to bat. Pandya then smashed a huge six on the fourth delivery of the last ball and took his team home by five wickets against Pakistan.

Earlier, fiery and tight bowling spells by Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India bundle out arch-rival Pakistan for 147 in a blockbuster clash in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan smashed 43 runs while Iftikhar Ahmed scored 28. For India Hardik Pandya bagged three while Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped four and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets.