Even though Pakistan had a strong start, they quickly lost momentum, going from 155 for two to all out for 191. Rohit Sharma’s excellent 86 helped India to an easy victory.
Sharma came close to hitting back-to-back hundreds in the event, but his knock was more than enough to lead India to a significant victory over their opponents in the most important group-stage encounter. Pakistan has now lost each of the eight World Cup games the two teams have played.
Pakistan got off to a strong start thanks to Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq before skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started to cause issues for the visitors with a significant partnership of 82 runs off 103 balls.
When Mohammed Siraj bowled Azam out just as the Pakistani skipper reached his half-century, India took control of the game and Pakistan lost five wickets for 16 runs, dropping them to 155 for three. This chaos was the catalyst for Pakistan losing five wickets.
The change in momentum was evident as Kuldeep Yadav struck twice in the 33rd over to get rid of Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Rizwan for 49, before striking again to get rid of Shadab Khan.
Before Ravindra Jadeja ended the match by dismissing Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf with seven overs remaining, Hardik Pandya claimed the wicket of Mohammad Nawaz.
Shubman Gill, who was leading the team in the 192-run chase, got off to a fast start, hitting four boundaries before being caught by Khan off Shaheen Shah Afridi. However, Sharma was unquestionably the player of the innings, taking over once Gill was out.
The two quickly chased down the runs with a 77-run partnership led by Shreyas Iyer after the skipper scored 39 in a 56-run stand with Virat Kohli, who was out for 16.
Afridi put an end to Sharma’s brilliant performance when the opener left for 86 runs off 63 balls, but KL Rahul and Iyer helped the team cross the finish line. Iyer smashed a four to get his 50 and help his team win the match with 117 balls remaining.
