From Kohli's back-to-back sixes to Babar's BIG blunder - 3 reasons why India defeated Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022

Pakistan were right on top with four wickets in the first six overs but Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli brought India's inning on track.

ICC

India's 'Chase-Master' Virat Kohli was in action today at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday. Kohli's 82 runs knock helped by beating Pakistan by four wickets to claim their first win of the T20 WC 2022. With this India took revenge for last year's defeat in the T20 WC 2021 where they faced a 10-wicket defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan. However, this win was not an easy one as it came on the last ball of the match with one run required on it. With the wicket of Babar Azam and M Rizwan, India's young pacer Arshdeep Singh who was playing his first WC game swung the pendulum in India's favour while the partnership between Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed brought Pakistan back in the game. In the chase, Pakistan were right on top with four wickets in the first six overs but Hardik Pandya and Virat brought India's inning on track. However, there were three crucial moments when India kept their clam and Pakistan lost it.

In this article, we will take you through the top three moments of the match where India won the game -

Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli's partnership

With four wickets down in just 6.1 overs, Pakistan bowlers were all over Team India. No one expected Pakistan to lose the game from there. But Virat and Hardik Pandya had other plans in mind. The duo continued to play cautious cricket till they found themsleves in a good rhythm. At one time the required run rate even crossed 13 but the duo kept their calm. Hardik took on the spinners while Virat charged on the pacers. It was tactically very important for both of them to make sure that India do not lose more wickets given that Dinesh Karthik and R Ashwin were the only two batters left. Virat and Hardik stitched 113 runs partnership which changed the game on its head.

Virat Kohli's back-to-back sixes against Haris Rauf

Even after the Hardik and Virat partnership, the win was not assured for Team India, as India needed 28 runs in eight balls. Haris Rauf who had dismissed Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav was bowling in the second last over of the match. India badly needed two big shots from Virat. The India talisman danced down the track and smashed a six-over long-on and followed it up with a flick over fine-leg for another maximum. With two back-to-back sixes, India's win equation was 16 runs in last over. With Virat and Hardik at the crease, India were on top.

Babar Azam's blunder to bowl Mohammad Nawaz in 20th over

India needed 16 runs in the last over but it was an easy task. Why? Because it was a left-arm spinner bowling the final over. Babar Azam miss-calculated or was pretty confident that his bowlers will finish the game before the 20th over. That over changed the game in India's favour as Virat smashed a six on no-ball and ran three on a free hit giving India 10 runs in 1 ball. Had Babar bowled Nawaz earlier, things could have been different for Pakistan.