Asia Cup: Pakistan's Rizwan rock, Nawaz star

Dubai, September 4

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A tactically superior Pakistan caught India completely off-guard with a Mohammed Nawaz punt as they exacted sweet revenge with a five-wicket victory in an exciting Super 4s game of the Asia Cup here today.

Chasing a tough target of 182, the ever-dependable Mohammed Rizwan (71 off 51 balls) anchored the Pakistan innings but it was left-handed batter Nawaz — known more for his orthodox left-arm spin — who played the decisive knock of the match. His 42 off 20 balls was something that India didn’t factor in and there was no game-plan for him as Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar Ali completed a deserving victory with a ball to spare.

The Rizwan-Nawaz partnership of 73 in just 6.5 overs in the middle of the innings had the Indians napping.

Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) and Hardik Pandya (1/44), the two bowlers who were brilliant last Sunday, were pedestrian today as Nawaz took both of them to the cleaners. The 87 that came off their cumulative eight overs turned the match in Pakistan’s favour as Nawaz hit six fours and two sixes.

While Pandya’s short-ball tactic fell flat, Chahal was walloped by both Rizwan and Nawaz as creases on Rohit Sharma’s forehead enlargedwith each passing over.

By the time Nawaz holed out in the deep off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling, he had inflicted enough damage on the the Indian attack.

Not having a replacement pacer for Avesh Khan in the main squad also affected India’s chances, although to be fair to Ravi Bishnoi (1/26), he gave it his all. Finally, it all ended when Bhuvneshwar gave away 19 runs in the 19th over with Pakistan needing only seven in Arshdeep’s final over, and they got there with a ball to spare.

Brief Scores: India: 181/7 in 20 overs (Kohli 60; Khan 2/31); Pakistan: 182/5 in 19.5 overs (Rizwan 71, Nawaz 42; Bishnoi 1/26)