KOLKATA: The spectre of Nagpur loomed large and the odds were stacked against India before a brilliant Virat Kohli exorcised those ghosts and delivered the goods. India maintained their World Cup stranglehold on Pakistan when MS Dhoni pulled Muhammad Irfan to square-leg for a single.
Kohli yet again put his best foot forward. The pitch was testing and the ball was spinning, even jumping at times. “It was a challenging wicket and that’s what you want as a cricketer. New challenges. It was difficult to bat as the bowlers kept trying cutters. I had to keep calm,” said Kohli.
It was a familiar situation, when he walked in at Dhaka in the Asia Cup match against Pakistan a few weeks back. In that game, the vice-captain was all class while making 49.
The script was similar at Eden. The target was 119, but Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina had perished by the fifth over. Kohli strode gracefully into the familiar role. He knew he had to keep cool as he was the man to turn the tide. Yuvraj Singh stuck in with him and played a few big shots later to release the pressure.
“Yuvraj weathered the storm and then smacked a few. In true Yuvi style. I think these performances are good for him as well. He’s in good nick. He had done this in Dhaka as well,” Kohli acknowledged the role played by the left-hander.
Kohli’s first four was a steer to the point boundary off Mohammad Sami, who threatened to spoil India’s party by sending back Dhawan and Raina, off successive balls in the fifth over. Taking cue from Kohli, Yuvraj cover drove the same bowler. The fourth wicket added 61 before Yuvraj holed out to the deep. Dhoni completed formalities.
Earlier, Dhoni chose to field as the pitch brought back memories of Nagpur. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja extracted alarming turn with bounce. Pakistan missed a trick by going in with a single spinner in Shahid Afridi. Fast bowler Sami came in for left-arm spinner Imad Wasim.
The game being of 18 overs per side, power play was taken for the first five. Ashwin bowled in this period as despite having wickets intact, Pakistan couldn’t manage more than 24. But it didn’t take long for India to break through and after that, none of the Pakistani batsmen really settled in.
Pakistan’s best phase came when Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal were at the crease. The two stitched 41 runs off 25. Malik made a 16-ball 26, with three fours and a six. For reasons best known to them, Pakistan held Mohammad Hafeez back till the fall of the fifth wicket.
Scoreboard
Pakistan: Sharjeel c Pandya b Raina 17, Shehzad c Jadeja b Bumrah 25, Afridi c Kohli b Pandya 8, Umar c Dhoni b Jadeja 22, Malik c Ashwin b Nehra 26, Sarfraz (not out) 8, Hafeez (not out) 5, Extras (b 2, 3 lb, w 1, 1 nb) 7. Total (5 wickets, 18 overs) 118. Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-46, 3-60, 4-101, 5-105. Bowling: Nehra 4-0-20-1, Ashwin 3-0-12-0, Bumrah 4-0-32-1, Jadeja 4-0-20-1, Raina 1-0-4-1, Pandya 2-0-25-1.
India: Rohit c Malik b Amir 10, Dhawan b Sami 6, Kohli (not out) 55, Raina b Sami 0, Yuvraj c Sami b Riaz 24, Dhoni (not out) 13. Extras (lb 3, w 7, nb 1) 11. Total (4 wkts, 15.5 ovs) 119. Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-23, 3-23, 4-84 (Singh). Bowling: Amir 3-1-11-1, Irfan 2.5-0-25-0, Sami 2-0-17-2, Afridi 4-0-25-0, Malik 2-0 22-0, Riaz 2-0-16-1.