India defeated Pakistan by six runs in their second match of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday. The stadium was built in New York — the 34,000-capacity venue built earlier this year.
Despite a positive start as Pakistan had not lost a wicket in the early overs, the Green Shirts could not capitalize on the advantage as skipper Babar Azam became Jasprit Bumrah’s victim after scoring 13 runs.
Usman Khan came in after the skipper’s dismissal and he managed to support Mohammad Rizwan but the right-handed batter lost his wicket to Axar Patel.
AFP adds:
India were bowled out by Pakistan for 119 in 19 overs but while Mohammad Rizwan made 31 for Pakistan, in a well-paced innings, Bumrah delivered crucial wickets and his 3-14 in four overs proved decisive as Pakistan fell just short ending on 113-7.
Despite a tricky batting surface that made batting difficult, a crowd of 34,028, a record attendance for an international cricket match in the USA, were given a tight contest that ebbed and flowed.
Bumrah picked up the vital wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam (13) and then the breakthrough dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan (31) in the 15th over when Pakistan were 80-4.
Then, handed the ball for the penultimate over, with Pakistan needing 21 to win, Bumrah conceded just three runs and removed Iftikhar Ahmed with his final ball.
That left Pakistan needing 18 from the final over, a steep task on a difficult batting surface and it got more tricky when Arshdeep Singh trapped Imad Wasim lbw with the first ball.
Naseem Shah made a valiant effort, hitting the fourth and fifth balls of the over for fours but India avoided any late drama to secure their second win of the tournament.
For Pakistan, their loss, coming after the shock defeat to the USA, leaves them without a point and with a lot of work to do against Canada and Ireland if they are to fight their way into the Super Eight stage.
Earlier, Pakistan pacers rattled Indian innings at regular intervals as India were bowled out for 119 runs in 19.1 overs in their Group A Twent20 World Cup match.
Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took three wickets each while Amir took two. Shaheen Shah Afridi took one wicket while the last man was run out after a catch was dropped off Rauf's ball.
Muhammad Amir removed Rishabh Pant as Babar Azam held on to the chance given by Pant who was lucky to survive twice in his previous over. On the very next ball, he removed Ravindra Jadeja as well for a duck. Pant made 42 runs off 30 balls hitting six boundaries.
India were 97-7 after 15 overs.
Haris Rauf removed Suryakumar Yadav as India lost their fourth wicket in the 12th over. Yadav scooped it up straight to Amir at mid-off who obliged.
Pakistan was given three catches by Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant but they failed to capitalize.
The first two chances came in Muhammad Amir’s over and both of these were difficult chances, but once Iftikhar standing in the slip and second time Usman Khan standing in the covers have missed these catches.
Aamir's over was very expensive and India scored 12 runs in it. India have scored 50 runs for the loss of two wickets at the end of the power play.
The third chance came in Imad Wasim’s 9th over as Pant top-edged and an inrushing Usman could not take the catch.
Naseem Shah once again struck in the eighth over as he clean-bowled Axar Patel. Earlier, Naseem removed Virat Kohli as well.
Axar danced down the wicket but missed a straight one which crashed into the stumps.
He made 20 runs off 18 balls hitting one six and two boundaries.
India are 62-3 after eight overs.
India are 50-2 after the first power play against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup clash in New York after being invited to bat first by Babar Azam. After the removal of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant continued to attack Pakistan bowlers.
They mustered another 7 runs from Iftikhar Ahmad's over as India finished 7th over for 57-2. Patel is playing at 20 and Pant at 16.
They mustered another 7 runs from Iftikhar Ahmad's over as India finished 7th over for 57-2. Patel is playing at 20 and Pant at 16.
Shaheen Shah Afridi removed Indian captain Rohit Sharma in the third over as both Indian openers went back to the pavilion. Sharma tried to hit a six but was caught by Haris Rauf near the boundary as India lost two wickets for 20 runs in the third over.
Naseem Shah got the prized wicket of Indian batting ace Virat Kohli as the match restarted after another rain delay. As the match resumed, Kohli hit Naseem for a boundary on the first ball of the second over and it was all that he could do. He slapped the third delivery straight to the point where Usman Khan made no mistake to catch the ball.
Rain continued to play spoilsport as the match between Pakistan and India at the Twent20 World Cup was stopped just after one over.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli started for India while Shaheen Sha Afridi led the proceedings from the Pakistan side.
Sharma hit SHaheen for a six as India were 8-0 after the first over.
Earlier, more rain arrived to further delay the start of the blockbuster Twenty20 World Cup clash between Pakistan and India. After a downpour for a few minutes, the rain stopped and the match started at 8:20pm.
There is no reserve day for the match and the teams would share a point each in case of a wipeout. However, there are additional 90 minutes added to the regulation time to get a full 40-over match.
Pakistan Sunday won the toss and elected to bat first against the Rohit Sharma-led India in their Group A match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York — the 34,000-capacity venue built earlier this year.
Imad Wasim returns for the high-octane clash to replace Azam Kha, the only change made by Pakistan from the squad that faced defeat from the USA.
The toss for the high-voltage T20 World Cup tie between Pakistan and India, scheduled for 7pm, was delayed as the Green Shirts are seeking redemption after their upset to the USA in their tournament opener.
Although both countries are cricket powerhouses, head-to-head matches are rare between the nations. The two sides do not meet outside of official competitions of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the last Test match between them was in 2007.
The tickets for the high-profile encounter were sold out months ago.
The Men in Green, led by skipper Babar Azam, desperately need a win against India after the shocking loss against the United States in their first match of the mega tournament.
Rohit Sharma-led India will have one foot in the Super 8 if they win against the Green Shirts since they have already defeated Ireland in their opening match.
India and Pakistan have met seven times in T20 World Cups where India won five matches while Pakistan won only one. The remaining T20I resulted in a tie with India winning via bowl out.
The only T20I Pakistan has won against India in a T20 World Cup was back in 2021 when the Babar-led side played against Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue.
Pakistan has received a much-needed boost ahead of the crucial match with all-rounder Imad Wasim declared fit to play.
Imad missed Pakistan's opening game against the US and had also sat out the final match of their pre-tournament series with England due to a rib injury.
But Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten told the pre-match press conference that the 35-year-old left-arm spinner is fit to play on Sunday.
Kirsten also said that Pakistan are eager to bounce back after the demoralising defeat against the USA.
"It's never nice not winning games of cricket for any player. They're trying their best. It's never nice. I don't think I needed to motivate this team for this game," he said.
"I think the important thing for us is that we operate genuinely as a team. Yes, we need individuals to make good performances, but playing games like this, I think is a real team effort.
"It's a big game, so we're going to treat it as any other game. But certainly, give it our best shot. The team's motivated. Two days ago is forgotten. We can't take it back. It's gone. So, we move on.”
The pitch at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium has been under the scanner for its variable bounce and India captain knows all about it after he was forced to retire hurt after being hit on the arm in the victory against Ireland on Wednesday.
"I think playing good cricket holds the key no matter the opposition. With the pitch, I think you know what to expect from the conditions, so you've got to prepare yourself in a way that you know these types of conditions are there," Sharma said.
"We have spoken about it, about what we need to do on these types of conditions. We have had lengthy chats with individuals about what the game plan can be for the batters and the bowlers as well. You can try to control what is in your control.
"There is a lot of experience in our changing room. So, when you come across conditions like these, I expect everyone to at least try and make good decisions. Again, we are going to approach [it] how we approached the first game. Nothing changes for us. We want to try and tick all the boxes in batting, bowling, and fielding," the Indian skipper added.
Squads:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Azam Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.