(Cricket news) On Sunday, India defeated Pakistan by 3 wickets in what was one of the greatest matches of all time. The match was a last ball thriller for the ages and any team could've won it. Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. As expected Dinesh Karthik was preferred over Rishabh Pant while Ravichandran Ashwin played as the pure spinner ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal. Harshal Patel was also left on the bench as India went with Arshdeep Singh as the 3rd seamer with the experience of Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pakistan on the other hand left Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Wasim Jr and akhar Zaman on the bench. The crowd at the MCG was electric as over 90,000 were in attendance. 

India got off to a very good start as there was a lot of swing on offer. Arshdeep Singh in his very first World Cup ball got rid of Babar Azam by trapping him plum in front of the stumps. The left arm seamer didn't stop there as in his very next over he got rid of the dangerous Mohammed Rizwan. Pakistan's over dependence on their openers was well documented before the tournament. Their middle order did turn up as Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed steadied the ship by scoring fifties. Iftikhar scored 52 off 42 balls hitting 5 fours while Masood hit 2 boundaries and 4 maximums in his 34 ball 51. Pakistan finished their innings at 159/8 which was a verg good total on the wicket and it looked even better considering the start by the Indian bowlers. The fact their middle order managed to rescue the innings after losing both the openers cheaply is a very big positive for Pakistan. 

Arshdeep Singh continued his great start by picking up 3/32 in his 4 overs. Hardik Pandya also picked up 3 wickets and only gave away only 30 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami used all their experience as they got a scalp each. Shami gave away 25 runs while Bhuvneshwar gave away only 22 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel between them bowled 4 overs as conditions were seam friendly. Axar gave away 21 runs in his only over while Ashwin still kept things in check as he conceded 23 runs in 3 overs.

Chasing 160 was always going to be difficult for India especially against the potent Pakistani attack. The men in blue got off to a terrible start as they lost KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel in just 6.1 overs. India looked down and out as they struggling at 31/4. Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya steadied the ship by knocking the ball around and building a partnership. The pair added 100 important runs for the 5th wicket and when the time came they stepped on the gas. Virat Kohli played what was described by Rohit Sharma among others as the best knock of his career. The former Indian skipper hit 6 fours and 4 sixes in his incredible innings of 82 off 53. He led India to a famous win which gives them an incredible start to the T20 World Cup campaign. Hardik Pandya also provided great support with his 37 ball 40 which included 1 four and 2 sixes.

At various points of the match it looked like India had no chance of pulling this off but Virat Kohli almost single handedly did it. India should not get overjoyed with this as the game could've gone anywhere. The batting order was supposed to be India's strength but there was a big collapse once again. There are a lot of positives for India but in the next games of this tournament the Men in Blue cannot afford to afford to have batting collapses. There were a few controversial moments in the last over with a close no ball call and the the 3 bys off the free hit but it made the game even more entertaining. The two teams put on a show but the magnitude of the game was lifted by all the fans that were in the stadium. 

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