Pakistan lost two wickets at the score of 73 post which both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan has stiched a useful partnership.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field. India made an obvious change to their playing XI. In-form Shubman Gill walked into the batting lineup in place of Ishan Kishan. On the other hand, Pakistan went ahead with the same lineup. Pakistan started in a very judgemental manner with both the openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq opening with a positive strokeplay. While they were watchful against the disciplined Jasprit Bumrah, they took their chances against any loose delivery from Mohammed Siraj.
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Pakistan are well on course to post a total in excess of 300. Abdullah and Imam provided the much-necessary partnership at the top in the first five overs. However, both the openers were back in their hut in the next 10 overs. The former was undone by a cross-seam back of a length delivery that was kept low. Subsequently, Shafique was caught plumb in front of the wicket (20[24]).
Imam and Babar tried to ensure that Pakistan went ahead at a healthy scoring rate. Babar got among runs pretty quickly, hitting three fours against Hardik Pandya in his first 10 balls. Just when Pakistan were closing into a run rate close to six, Imam went for an expansive drive and ended up edging a Pandya delivery to KL Rahul. It was a very disappointing moment for the left-hander considering the fact that Imam looked really set to score a big ton. The Pakistani camp was visibly frustrated by the fact that Imam had thrown away a start. If any this fullish length delivery moved away a hint but that wide angle was always going to be tough for control for the left-hander when he’s trying to reach out. To know a brief of what happened before the arrival of Babar a brief summary is there:
Summary of Overs 11-20; Phase Winner: Shared
> Hardik entices Imam into a drive and has him caught behind
> Rizwan successfully overturns an LBW decision
> Jadeja bowls miserly and builds pressure
> Babar finds his touch with timely boundaries
> 54 runs are scored for the loss of one wicket
Subsequently, after a good partnership of 82 for the third wicket between Babar and Rizwan, the former fell. Siraj was the go-to bowler for captain Rohit Sharma and he delivered again. It was the same scrambled seam ball that had undone Shafiq. Nevertheless, Babar walks back after making a well-deserved half-century.
Summar (Overs 21-30); Phase Winner: Shared
> Pakistan make slow but steady progress
> Rizwan survives another close LBW shout
> Babar and Rizwan share a 50-run stand
> Jadeja and Kuldeep mount pressure with some tight bowling
> Babar gets to his first 50 of the tournament
> Siraj bowls a ripper to castle Babar
> Pakistan scored 53 runs and lose 1 wicket
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