Spineless Pakistan hand India easy win

There was a plenty of hype before this match, but it turned out to be a damp squib, and not just because of the incessant rain. A one-sided spineless contest from Pakistan and the Indian juggernaut rolled on. Certainly not a match that will join the ranks of classic India-Pakistan matches.

India put on a dazzling display in the field to bowl out Pakistan for 165 in 39.4 overs in a rain-hit Champions Trophy group B match on Saturday which was further reduced to 22 overs with a revised target of 102 runs. An India achieved the target losing two wickets with 17 balls to spare. Dinesh Karthik 11 and Virat Kholi 22 took India home. S Dhawan 48 and Rohit Sharma first set the foundation by making 48 and 18 runs respectively. With the pride that was at stake for Pakistan was dashed in.

For India four bowlers claimed two wickets each and the last two batsmen were run out after they sent Pakistan in to bat in front of flag-waving supporters from both sides who packed the Edgbaston stands.

The match drew a full house even though it held only academic interest since India had already qualified for the semi-finals and Pakistan are out of the race after losing both their previous games.

The game was reduced to 40-overs-a-side due to rain stoppages. Further bad weather has been forecast over Birmingham for the rest of the day.

Asad Shafiq top-scored with 41 and Umar Amin made 27 not out, but Pakistan’s batting woes that had dogged them through the tournament continued.

Opener Nasir Jamshed, whose previous five innings against India included three centuries and a half-century, managed only two when he was snapped up in the slips off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.

Pakistan plodded to 7-1 in the first five overs, before a cover driven boundary by Mohammad Hafeez off Umesh Yadav, produced a flurry of fours from either end.

Pakistan moved to 50-1 in 12 overs when a 15-minute interruption due to light rain caused them further trouble.

Hafeez, who hit five boundaries in his 27, fell on the first ball after resumption, edging Kumar to a diving Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq helped Shafiq put on 54 runs for the fourth wicket on either side of a second rain stoppage, before he was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for 22.

Shafiq was dismissed with the help of a television review after umpire Richard Kettleborough initially rejected a catch down the leg-side by Dhoni off Ishant Sharma.

Shoaib Malik was trapped leg-before by Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who had earlier dismissed Kamran Akmal, bowled Wahab Riaz to reduce Pakistan to 140-7.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN:

Nasir Jamshed c Raina b Kumar           2

Kamran Akmal c Kohli b Ashwin          21

Mohammad Hafeez c Dhoni b Kumar   27

Asad Shafiq c Dhoni b I Sharma           41

Misbah-ul-Haq  b Jadeja          22

Shoaib Malik lbw b Jadeja        17

Umar Amin not out       27

Wahab Riaz b Ashwin  0

Saeed Ajmal c RG Sharma b I Sharma 5

Junaid Khan run out (Kohli)      0

Mohammad Irfan run out (Yadav)         0

Extras (lb 1, w 2)          3

Total (all out; 39.4 overs)          165

Fall of wickets 1-4 (Nasir Jamshed, 2.3 ov), 2-50 (Mohammad Hafeez, 12.1 ov), 3-56 (Kamran Akmal, 15.1 ov), 4-110 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 26.4 ov), 5-131 (Asad Shafiq, 31.1 ov), 6-139 (Shoaib Malik, 32.6 ov), 7-140 (Wahab Riaz, 33.3 ov), 8-159 (Saeed Ajmal, 38.1 ov), 9-159 (Junaid Khan, 38.2 ov), 10-165 (Mohammad Irfan, 39.4 ov)

Bowling: B Kumar 8-2-19-2, UT Yadav 6.4-0-29-0, I Sharma 7-0-40-2, R Ashwin 8-0-35-2, V Kohli 2-0-11-0, RA Jadeja 8-1-30-2

INDIA:  (target: 102 runs from 22 overs)

RG Sharma c Misbah b Ajmal  18

S Dhawan c Jamshed b Riaz     48

V Kohli not out 22

KD Karthik not out      11

Extras (w 3)     3

Total (2 wickets; 19.1 overs)    102

Did not bat SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, I Sharma, B Kumar, UT Yadav

Fall of wickets 1-58 (RG Sharma, 10.4 ov), 2-78 (Dhawan, 14.3 ov)

Bowling: Mohammad Irfan 4-0-24-0, Junaid Khan 4-0-21-0, Saeed Ajmal 5-0-29-1, Mohammad Hafeez 2.1-0-8-0, Wahab Riaz 4-0-20-1

Toss India, who chose to field

Points India 2, Pakistan 0

Umpires IJ Gould and RA Kettleborough

TV umpire HDPK Dharmasena (Sri Lanka)

Match referee BC Broad

Reserve umpire NJ Llong