India's bowling masterclass downs Pakistan in T20 World Cup blockbuster

India and Pakistan matches are always a high-voltage drama. This year's t20 world cup match was no different; India and Pakistan faced each other at the newly constructed Nassau County stadium in New York, USA. Pakistan won the toss, and India was invited in to bat first while the conditions remained overcast. The conditions played a huge role as India struggled to get the 20 overs and were bowled out a low total of 119 runs of 19 overs with Rishabh Pant's 42 runs of 32 balls being the top scorer for India. 

 

Things took a slow turn when India came out to bowl and got just 1 wicket in the powerplay with Pakistan scoring decent 35 runs in the powerplay. It was with the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan when India saw a chance. With disciplined bowling by all the bowlers, India managed to pull down Pakistan's scoring rate immensely as the game came down to Pakistan requiring 18 runs of the last over to win the game. India's left-armed pacer Arshdeep Singh successfully defended the target of 18 in the last over with India claiming the match by 6 runs. Not India's batting but it was India's bowlers who made the victory possible for India as all bowlers gave their best with Jasprit Bumrah being the top of all the bowlers with figures of 14 runs of 4 overs with 3 wickets. Alongside Bumrah, Hardik Pandya took 2 wickets from his 4 overs conceding only 24 runs, and bowlers like Axar and Arshdeep bagged one wicket each which caused the Pakistani batting line up to struggle to score even a low target of 120 runs.

 

If we look into the lowest totals defended by India in the T20 world cups , yesterday's 119 is the lowest total to have been successfully defended by the men in blue. Here are a few interesting stats that needs to be mentioned after yesterday's match-

 

Lowest targets successfully defended by India in T20I

120 vs Pak New York 2024 *(yesterday's match)
139 vs Zim Harare 2016
145 vs Eng Nagpur 2017
147 vs Ban Bengaluru 2016

 

 

Lowest targets successfully defended in T20 WCs

120 SL vs NZ Chattogram 2014
120 Ind vs Pak New York 2024 *(yesterday's match)
124 Afg vs WI Nagpur 2016
127 NZ vs Ind Nagpur 2016
129 SA vs NZ Lord's 2009

 

Most wins against an opponent in T20 WC (including wins in ties)

7 India vs Pakistan
6 Pakistan vs Bangladesh
6 Sri Lanka vs West Indies

 

 

Lowest targets successfully defended vs Pakistan in T20Is

119 by Zim Harare 2021
120 by India New York 2024 *(yesterday's match)
128 by Aus Melbourne 2010
130 by Eng Abu Dhabi 2012
131 by Zim Perth 2022

 

India will now face the USA in their next match on the 12th of June 2024. With India placed on the top of the group A point table and USA being on the 2nd spot, this match will however be important for Pakistan as well as their hopes for qualification now rely heavily on how big India wins against associate nations like the US and Canada.