Pakistan creates history by beating the defending champions India in the finals of Champions Trophy 2017 by a huge margin of 180 runs. Batting first, Pakistan put on a humongous total of 338 runs.
Pakistan entered the tournament as World No 8 team but with their best performance in both batting and bowling department, they registered their biggest victory over India in One Day Internationals. The Indian batting collapsed in the second innings resulting in Pakistan winning the big match by 180 runs. It was surely a Sunday which belonged to Pakistan Cricket Team.
Here are the top 5 moments from the match:-
– by Shraddha Kejriwal
- Bumrah’s No ball
Fakhar Zaman was caught behind off Jasprit Bumrah for only 3 runs. India would have got their early wicket and built the pressure on the opponents at that stage. However, the celebration of Indian Team stopped as soon as they realized Bumrah’s front foot was an inch ahead of the crease which led to no-ball. Fakhar Zaman then went on to score 114 runs off just 106 balls resulting in Pakistan’s 338 runs on the board in the first innings.
- Mohammad Hafeez
Apart from Fakhar Zaman, it was Mohammad Hafeez, the result being Pakistan’s excellent performance with the bat in the first innings. After Fakhar’s wicket, Mohammad Hafeez stood up and took the responsibility on his shoulders. Mohammad Hafeez smashing 57 off just 37 balls with a strike rate of 154.05 helped Pakistan to put on pressure on the opponents and gain that extra momentum.
- Indian Batting collapsed
Shikhar-Rohit Partnership has played a key role for Indian Batting throughout the tournament. Shikhar Dhawan with his 317 runs and Rohit Sharma with his 304 runs in 4 matches seemed to be unstoppable. However, Indian batting along with these brilliant hitters of the game failed miserably on the night of the finals. Rohit Sharma went on a duck and on the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan went back to the pavilion after scoring just 21 runs.
Captain Kohli who has been in an excellent form throughout the tournament failed to deliver in the finals. Kohli was dropped at 5 however in the very next ball Kohli was caught by Shadab Khan off Mohammad Amir’s ball. Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, the stalwarts of the game failed to capitalize their innings as well. Except for Hardik Pandya, no other batsman was able to score over 25 runs. It was indeed a terrible day for Indian Team.
- The Hardik Pandya Show
Hardik Pandya emerged as a lone warrior by keeping the hopes alive of Indian Cricket Team and their fans by his brilliant cricket. Seeing the batting of Indian Team collapse, Hardik Pandya stood up and took the responsibility. Pandya scored 76 runs off just 43 balls with a huge strike rate of 176.74. However, Pandya got run out by the miscommunication between him and Ravindra Jadeja which also resulted in India losing the match. Pandya’s efforts and dedication will highly be appreciated and will be taken as a positive sight from this game.
“The way Hardik batted today, the way he bowled and the way he fielded that’s exactly why we back him. When he was striking well even he felt and everyone in the change room felt that if he can go on then things could become interesting but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”- Virat Kohli
- Failure of Ashwin and Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin both failed to deliver in the finals against Pakistan. Ravindra Jadeja in his 8 overs conceded 67 runs with a bowling economy of 8.37. On the other side, Ashwin in his 10 overs gave 70 runs with an economy of 7. Bhuvneshwar Kumar proved to be the most beneficial bowler for India with 2 maiden overs and a wicket in his 10 overs.
Match summary-Pakistan beat India by 180 runsGolden bat- Shikhar DhawanGolden ball- Hasan Ali
Golden bat- Shikhar DhawanGolden ball- Hasan Ali
Golden ball- Hasan Ali
– by Shraddha Kejriwal