Virat Kohli’s stunning unbroken century propelled India to a dominant six-wicket win against Pakistan in their Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. With this triumph, India became the first team to advance to the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-finals.
Chasing 242 for victory, Shreyas Iyer scored a calm but authoritative 56, creating a crucial partnership with Virat Kohli to lead India home in 42.3 overs. With two successive losses, Pakistan is on the verge of elimination from the tournament. A victory for New Zealand over Bangladesh on Monday would formally terminate Pakistan’s campaign.
In the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav bowled wonderfully, taking 3-40, while Hardik Pandya took 2-31. An outstanding all-round bowling performance enabled India defeat Pakistan for 241 in 49.4 overs.
Pakistan’s hitters got off to a poor start after deciding to bat first, but unable to score immediately. The only significant partnership was a 104-run stand between Saud Shakeel (62) and Mohammad Rizwan (46), which moved at a slow pace. Pakistan fell from a comfortable 151-2 to 241 all out, wasting an opportunity to score a higher total.
Aside from Kuldeep and Hardik, Harshit Rana, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel all grabbed one wicket as India picked up wickets consistently, particularly in the middle overs, for the first time in the competition, despite allowing 17 extras.
Hardik made India’s first breakthrough by pulling back his length and delivering outside the off-stump, causing Babar Azam to nick behind to KL Rahul, who reacted quickly to his right to grab a low catch.
Imam-ul-Haq struggled to establish rhythm in his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup and was dismissed for 10 runs off 26 balls. Despite a desperate dive, Axar Patel’s hard hit from mid-field fell well short of the crease.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami returned to the attack looking much sharper as India tightened its hold on Pakistan, surrendering only one boundary between the 11th and 20th overs and limiting them to just 27 runs. With the pitch providing some grip, India successfully put Rizwan and Shakeel under pressure.
However, around the midway point, Pakistan began to accelerate. Rizwan swept Jadeja for four via square leg, while Shakeel collected boundaries against Kuldeep with the reverse sweep and conventional sweep. Shakeel scored his fourth ODI fifty in 69 balls, and both hitters hit the fence against Jadeja once more.
As Pakistan upped its scoring rate, India’s attempt to break the partnership resulted in some wasted opportunities. Shakeel avoided a missed straight shot, and Rana dropped a difficult running ball at midwicket, giving Rizwan a reprieve at 44. However, Axar Patel made sure Rizwan didn’t take advantage, dismissing him for 46 after clean-bowling him.
India could have dismissed Shakeel in the same over, but Kuldeep lost a catch at wide long on. Hardik quickly dismissed Shakeel by fooling him with a slower short ball that he pulled straight to deep mid-wicket.
Pakistan’s problems worsened when Jadeja bowled Tayyab Tahir, resulting in three wickets for 11 runs between the 34th and 37th overs.
The decline continued as Kuldeep Yadav took over, removing Salman Ali Agha at cover point, trapping Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw with a googly, and catching Naseem Shah at far on. Khushdil Shah and Haris Rauf each blasted sixes off Shami, but their efforts were short-lived, as both fell swiftly, leaving Pakistan with a disappointing total of 241 on a field that was predicted to slow down as the match went.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 241 all out in 49.4 overs (Saud Shakeel 62, Mohammad Rizwan 46; Kuldeep Yadav 3-40, Hardik Pandya 2-31) were defeated by India 244/4 in 42.3 overs (Virat Kohli 100 not out, Shreyas Iyer 56; Shaheen Afridi 2-74, Abrar Ahmed 1-28) by six wickets.
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