Rohit hammers Pakistan into submission as India make it 7–0

Rohit Sharma’s elegant century and half centuries from Rahul and Kohli powered India to a massive 336/5. Pakistan began brightly but Kuleep’s crucial breakthroughs, coupled with incessant rain handed Pakistan a humbling defeat.

Under clear skies and on a dry pitch, Sarfaraz Khan put India in to bat. KL Rahul began cautiously but in contrast, Rohit was quick off the blocks. The Pakistani quicks were not consistent, bowling repeated loose deliveries and this allowed Rohit to tee off in glee. Once the spinners came, Rahul got into the act as well. Rohit raced to a fifty as the openers put up a 136 run partnership. Rahul fell to a loose shot of Wahab Riaz for a gritty 57. Virat Kohli joined Rohit and the pair made run-making look as easy as drinking water. Kohli negated the spinners’ threat and allowed Rohit to reach his second hundred of this World Cup. Once Rohit crossed the three figure mark, he unleashed his top gear . He picked the gaps at will but a mistimed scoop off a Hasan Ali slower ball ended a 140 run knock filled with elegance and class. Once again, Hardik Pandya was sent in at #4. Mohammad Amir, Pakistan’s bowler of the day, kept bowling a good line and got Pandya’s and Dhoni’s crucial wickets. After a rain delay, Kohli looked to apply the finishing touches but inexplicably decided not to take a review after replays showed that he had not edged or gloved an Amir bouncer. At the end, India finished will a lull but 336 looked a good target.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar limped off midway through his second over with a hamstring strain. Vijay Shankar was called to complete Bhuvneshwar’s over and off the very first ball in his World Cup debut, got the wicket of Imam-Ul-Haq. India’s pacers bowled a good length, not allowing Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman a chance to accelerate. Kuldeep Yadav broke the partnership with a stunning delivery. He got one to dip and turn in sharply and before Babar Azam could get his bat down, the ball had struck timber. Then began the familiar story of a Pakistan batting collapse. Fakhar Zaman top edged a sweep to Chahal. Hardik Pandya struck for the first time this World Cup and was on a hattrick, accounting for the experienced duo of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez. It was game, set and match for India as Pakistan were miles away from the DLS par score as the heavens opened up once again. After resuming and stopping for the third time, India defeated Pakistan by 89 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Analysis:-

Pakistan made many errors, helping India massively. After winning a good toss, putting India in to bat was not the correct call by Sarfaraz. After realising that there was no swing, the Pakistani bowlers decided to bowl short. Old Trafford has very short square boundaries and in Rohit and Rahul, India has two of the best pullers. While Imad Wasim found some turn, Shadab Khan started horrendously. He was either too short or too full and this helped Kohli and Rohit rotate the strike comfortably in the middle overs.

Sending Vijay Shankar ahead of Kedar Jadhav and Kohli’s decision of not reviewing his wicket denied India a chance of scoring over 350.

What you may have missed:-

• Sourav Ganguly is a rookie in the commentary box but is making moves already. When Michael Clarke asked him asked about the Indians outnumbering Pakistan in the stands, he replied, “Yeah! Costly tickets maybe.” In an act of humility, he missed his own name while mentioning the batsmen who have crossed 11,000 runs in ODI Cricket.
• Virat Kohli passed another milestone, becoming the quickest to get to 11,000 ODI runs.
• Rohit Sharma’ 140 was the highest individual score against Pakistan in World Cups.
• Virat Kohli’s hilarious Instagram post and a cheeky dig on the rains.

India outsmarted Pakistan in all three departments. They look in frightening form ahead of an easy run of fixtures. Pakistan have it all to do with South Africa and New Zealand up next. India will miss Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the next two games but in Mohammad Shami, they have a readymade replacement.

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Originally published at Sporcial.