Asia Cup 2018: India secure easy 8-wicket win over listless Pakistan

India eased Pakistan to win comprehensively by 8 wickets in their Asia Cup 2018 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Follow the highlights from the match:

# Brief score:

*India beat Pakistan by 8 wickets and 21 overs in hand

*India 164/2 in 29 overs (Rohit Sharma 52 (39), Shikhar Dhawan 46 (54))

*Pakistan 162/10 in 43.1 overs ( Babar Azam 47 (62), Shoaib Malik 43 (67) / Kedar Jadhav 3/23 (9 overs), Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/15 (7 overs))

# That’s a warp. India beat Pakistan by 8 wickets in a one-sided rubber.

# India are in a comfortable position to convincingly win this match. It is also a perfect opportunity for Dinesh Karthik to impress the Indian management and the selectors with an unbeaten knock. Pakistan, on the other hand, are falling short of options and slowly starting to give up. India 121/2 after 20 overs.

# Dinesh Karthik is in at number four.

# India 104/2!

# Wicket!! Dhawan slashes Faheem Ashraf’s short and wide ball straight to Babar Azam, who takes a sharp catch at point. India lose their 2nd wicket!

# 100-up for India. India are cruising here and except the wicket off Shadab’s ripper, India have looked in complete command. Pakistan are starting to cut a frustrated figure and the bowlers have gone haywire with their line and leaking runs at an alarming rate.

# Ambati Rayudu is in at number three!

# Wicket!! Shadab bowls a peach of a delivery to dismiss the on-song Rohit Sharma. He tosses a google past a lunging Rohit Sharma to knock his leg-stump. What a ball to start the spell. Rohit departs for 52 (39), India 86/1.

# Half-century!! Indian skipper Rohit Sharma times his way to a 36-ball half-century, that has seen him cut, pull, drive, chip and smash the Pakistani bowlers all over the park.

# Click here for the detailed scorecard.

# After a cautious start, the Indian openers changed gears and started dealing in boundaries, getting India off to a solid start. The right-left combination is making things hard for the Pakistani bowlers who are messing up with their line and length. Rohit Sharma- 5 fours, 2 sixes, Shikhar Dhawan 3 fours, 1 six. India 73/0 after 12 overs.

# Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are happy to take things slow, with the required run-rate at 3.28, and have looked comfortable against the fiery left-arm seamers. Pakistan have two left-arm, three right-arm pacers and a leg-break bowler. And India may have an advantage if they wear out the new-ball and go wicketless. Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed will try and exhaust one of his lefties at one end which will make it easy for India as the game progresses. India 17/0 after 6 overs.

# The Indian openers will look to survive the probing left-arm seamers of Pakistan, who have troubled Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the past, and build a small partnership in the first 10 overs. Pakistan bowlers, on the other hand, will keep in mind the 2016 Asia Cup, played in a T20 format, where they had reduced the then Indian side, chasing a low-score of 83, to 8/3 in the span of three overs. Mohammed Amir was part of the 2016 side and had wrecked the Indian top-order to finish with figures of 3/18 (in 4 overs). India, however, ended up winning the side after a classy 51-ball 49 runs from Virat Kohli, who has been rested in the current Asia Cup. Expect a cracker of a match.

# Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open the innings for India.

# India need 163 runs to win!

# India outperformed Pakistan with the ball, reducing the latter to 162 in the first innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got India off to a great start after dismissing the dangerous Fakhar Zaman (0) and Imam-ul-Haq (2) early in the innings. Pakistan then consolidated on the back of Babar Azam (47) and Shoaib Malik (43)’s 82-run stand. And just when Pakistan was cruising at a healthy run-rate Kuldeep Yadav deceived Babar Azam with a googly to trigger the collapse. Pakistan then failed to read Kedar Jadhav’s street-smart bowling and gifted their wickets to the part-timer. Jadhav and Bhuvneswar Kumar were clinical for India, picking 3 wickets each. Jadhav and Kumar finished with stunning figures of 3/15 (7 overs) and 3/23 (9 overs).

# Pakistan 162- all out!

# Wicket!! Bumrah finishes things off in style. He cleans up Usman Khan with a perfect yorker.

# Wicket!! Bhuvneshwar picks up his third wicket as Hasan Ali, like the other Pakistani batsmen, slogs a fuller-delivery straight into the hands of Dinesh Karthik at mid-on.

# Jasprit Bumrah continues to be clinical for India in the death overs. He brainstorms before each and every delivery and executes his variations cleverly. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has also played a major role here. He has rotated his bowlers well and saved Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar for the last overs. Pakistan, on the other hand, have let things slip away, the middle-order have thrown their wickets away (in clusters) with horrible shot selection.

# Pakistan 158/8!

# Wicket!! Bumrah breaks the 37-run stand between Faheem Ashraf and Amir. Bumrah keeps things simple with a fuller length delivery as Ashraf skies a catch to Shikhar Dhawan at deep-midwicket.

# Wicket!! Jadhav’s flat trajectory works again as he fires one on the outside-off as Shadab tries to play an inside-out shot but gets stumped by the lightning fast MS Dhoni. Pakistan 121/7 after 33 overs.

# A deceptive googly and a perfect throw has completely turned the tides in India’s favour. For a team that toiled hard against an associate nation to come back the next day and dominate in such an emphatic fashion is remarkable. The bowlers have been consistent and, despite the two drops, India have been a livewire in the field. Anything from this stage is bonus runs for Pakistan, who have relied heavily on their top-order. India, on the other hand, would look to wrap the Pakistani’s under 200 runs. Pakistan 117/6 after 31 overs.

# Faheem Ashra is in at number eight!

# Pakistan 110/6!

# Wicket!! Jadhav continues his impressive run. He bowls a short-pitched delivery as Asif Ali attempts to late cut but the ball skids to take an outside edge to MS Dhoni. Pakistan in deep trouble now.

# Pakistan 100/5!

# Wicket!! Huge wicket for India. Shoaib Malik, who was half-way down the pitch, is sent back by Asif Ali. Malik, however, falls short of his crease as Rayudu hits the bull’s eye. What a throw. Advantage India?

# Asif Ali is in at number 6.

# Pakistan 96/4!

# Wicket!! Sarfraz Ahmed falls. He slogs Kedar Jadhav and hands a catch to Manish Pandey, who takes a brilliant catch at the mid-wicket boundary. Sarfraz departs for 6 runs.

# Sarfraz Ahmed is in at number 5!

# Pakistan 85/3!

# Wicket!! Kuldeep Yadav gets the better of the dangerous Babar Azam with a googly. Azam had stepped down to push a drive on the leg-side but was beaten all ends up by Yadav’s deceptive flight. What a wicket! Pakistan lose their 3rd wicket. Babar Azam departs for a 62-ball 47.

# Hardik Pandya seems to have injured his hip which has forced him off the field at a crucial stage. Further reports awaited.

# Shoaib Malik is starting to threaten India, he is reading Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s variations and scoring at a healthy rate. Malk has scored two centuries against India in the Asia Cup, 143 and 125* in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Babar Azam and Malik have already stitched a 57-run partnership for Pakistan and India would be looking to break their dangerous stand. Pakistan 60/2 after 16 overs.

# India are off to a great start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had gone wicketless against minnows Hong Kong, has been on point from the start of the innings. He is keeping a tight off-stump and outside off-stump line and moving the ball well. India, however, will be wary of Shoaib Malik, who boasts a great record against India.

# Shoaib Malik is in at number four.

# Wicket!! Bhuvneshwar strikes again!! He tempts Zaman with a short-pitched delivery and the latter skies a catch to Chahal at square-leg. Pakistan 3/2!

# Wicket!! Bhuvneshwar Kumar strikes! He moves the ball away from Imam-ul-Haq, who attempts hit him on the rise but ends up edging the ball to MS Dhoni. Pakistan 2/1!

# Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman!

# Playing XI:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan.

# Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first

The eagerly awaited clash will see India meet Pakistan after a gap of almost 15 months. They last met in the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017, where Pakistan had outplayed India.

India and Pakistan have faced each other 12 times in the Asia Cup. India have won six while Pakistan have managed to win five matches and one ended without a result.

Head to head In the One Day Internationals (ODIs), the arch-rivals have played a total of 129 games against each other. Pakistan lead the tally with 73 wins while India have emerged victorious in 52 matches.

Ahead of the clash, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed said that there was certainly additional pressure due to the high-octane match but that would not affect how his team will approach the tie.

“There’s always pressure in India-Pakistan games. We’ve told our players, not just this game, consider every match as an India-Pakistan game if you want to win the event. There’s pressure, but we’re trying to not let it affect us, and perform well,” Sarfraz said in the pre-match press conference.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who is leading the team after regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested, also echoed similar views. “It’s always exciting to play Pakistan, but this tournament is not about one match alone,” he said.

Earlier, on Tuesday India registered a hard-fought 26-run win over Hong Kong in its Asia Cup opener. Pakistan had an easy outing against Hong Kong, beating the minnows by eight wickets.

Squad:

India: Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, K Khaleel Ahmed.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed(c), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir.