Kohli props up India after bowlers skittle Pakistan

WORLD cricket’s most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammed Amir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament here on Saturday. This is the Pakistan fist T-20 march in Asia Cup.

India finally reached 85-5 to complete the victory with 27 balls to spare with Man-of-the-Match Kohli making 49, the top score, off 51 balls with seven fours.

That opened the floodgates as one after another Pakistani batsmen took the long walk back to the pavilion and finally they were all out for 83 runs.

Appreciating Mohammad Amirs performance, he said: Amir bowled really well.

Alike every other Indian, Bollywood celebrities often showed their love for cricket and the cricket team. The pacer removed Hardik Pandya for a duck but the effort was too little too late. “My main strength is my bowling but I understand that where I bat I can also contribute for the team and that is important”.

Ravindra Jadeja ran in from deep midwicket in the eighth over and with one swoop he collected the slowly-moving ball and rocketed it to MS Dhoni.

Dhoni was asked about his thoughts on the decision by Bangladesh umpire SIS Saikat who gave Pakistan batsman Khurram Manzoor not out on an Ashish Nehra delivery when it sounded a clear edge to everyone on the field but the umpire.

However, the left-arm paceman, playing his first match against India in any format following his five-year spot-fixing ban, could not make any further inroads, finishing with three for 18, his best haul in Twenty20 internationals.

Pakistan’s previous lowest total against its traditional rival was 128.
Captain Shahid Afridi rued his batsmen’s failure to read the wicket. With a small target, all India needed was a couple of good overs, and Kohli calmed his side’s collective nerves with a couple of stunning drives through the covers off Wahab Riaz’s ninth over, which yielded 15 runs.

Unable to face the sharp Indian bowling attack, Pakistan bowled out for a meagre 83 in 17.3 overs.