Pakistan are on the brink of bombing out of the T20 World Cup after collapsing to a six-run loss to arch-rivals India in a blockbuster in New York.
Having suffered a shock loss in their first match against the USA, Pakistan – who lost the 2022 final to England in Australia – sunk to their second successive loss in New York on Monday morning (AEST).
Pakistan sit fourth in Group A, with matches against Canada and Ireland still to come. It needs to win both, and hope the USA don’t beat Ireland to make it through to the Super 8s.
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Batting first, India were bowled out for only 119 in 19 overs. Three batters – Rohit Sharma (13 off 12), Rishabh Pant (42 off 31) and Axar Patel (20 from 18) – made double figures.
Pakistan appeared to be cruising at 80-4 after 14 overs when Bumrah clean bowled Mohammad Rizwan for 31, before Iftikhar Ahmed holed out in the deep off the last ball of a terrific spell.
Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman after being dismissed against India in the T20 World Cup clash in New York. Getty
From then on, the Indian bowlers dominated.
Needing 18 off the final over, Naseem Shah (10 not out) smashed Arshdeep Singh for two boundaries, but it wasn’t enough. They fell six runs short.
Shah left the field with tears in his eyes, and was consoled by his batting partner Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Bumrah finished with figures of 3-14 from his four overs, and was awarded player of the match.
It was Pakistan’s second successive loss, having been stunned by the USA in their tournament-opener last week. They’re now on the brink of being bundled out in the group stage.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said Bumrah’s bowling was “genius”.
“We didn’t bat well enough … we were 15 to 20 runs short, and every run matters,” he said.
“The bowlers did the job. It was a good wicket compared to the one we played on (against Ireland).
“There’s a never-say-die attitude in the team. We wanted to make early inroads but we didn’t. At the halfway stage we got together and said if things can happen to us, they can happen to them too.
“Bumrah is going from strength to strength. I’m not going to talk too much about him, we want him to be in that kind of mindset till the end of this world cup.
“He’s a genius with the ball.”
Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma celebrating the victory. Getty
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said quick wickets in the middle overs cost them the match.
“We were chasing 120 and we were a run a ball for the first 10 overs but back to back wickets and we left too much to do in the end,” he said.
“Our tactics were simple, play normally, rotate strike, score five or six an over. We had too many dot balls, the pressure was on us, and we lost three quick wickets.
“We have not capitalised properly, the pitch looked decent and the ball was coming on nicely.
“It was a little bit slow and some balls are bouncing a bit more, but you expect that with a drop-in pitch.”
Pakistan will play Canada in their next match.