4. Match 6 of Asia Cup 2014
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka
This particular game swung like a pendulum all the way through, with both sides having equal chances of winning it until Shahid Afridi clouted two big sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin in the final over to take his side past the finish line with a solitary wicket to spare. In the absence of some of the senior players like M.S Dhoni and Suresh Raina (who had been rested prior to the WT20 which was scheduled to begin in a month’s time from then), India, batting first, posted a modest 245/8—thanks to fifties from Rohit Sharma (56), Ambati Rayudu (58) and Ravindra Jadeja (52 n.o.).
Pakistan were looking all set for a comfortable chase after their openers (Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad) put up 71 runs for the first wicket. However, from that point onward, the Pak batting fell away like a pack of cards, courtesy a fine bowling partnership between Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Sharma which saw them share five wickets in between.
Just when the game seemed to have slipped out of Pakistan’s hands, Afridi—coming in at seven—played a blitzkrieg (34* off 18 balls) to steer his side home and provide yet another dramatic finish to an India-Pakistan cricketing duel.
