India successfully defended a total of 119 runs at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, securing a six-run victory over Pakistan in a low-scoring Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday.

 By PakPassion Staff (09-06-2024)

Naseem Shah took three wickets for 21 runs, Haris Rauf claimed three for 21, and Mohammad Amir snapped up two for 23 to dismiss India for 119, their second-lowest score in a T20 World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah led India’s fightback with figures of three for 14, while Hardik Pandya claimed two for 24 as Pakistan finished on 113 for seven on a substandard T20 pitch.

Pakistan required 18 runs in the last over and managed 11, including two fours off the final three balls by Naseem Shah. They were in control when they reached 57 for one halfway through the innings and then 83 for four after 15 overs, needing 37 from the final five.

Babar Azam (13) and Mohammad Rizwan (31) built a 26-run partnership for the first wicket off 28 balls before Rizwan and Usman Khan (13) added 31 runs off 33 balls. However, the lower-order struggled against India's bowlers, with Imad Wasim scoring 15 and Fakhar Zaman contributing 13.

This marked Pakistan’s second consecutive defeat, leaving them winless after two matches with games against Canada and Ireland remaining. In contrast, India and the USA have two wins each from the same number of matches.

Pakistan will face Canada next on Tuesday. Their only route to advancing to the Super-Eight Stage is by defeating Canada and Ireland convincingly and hoping the USA suffers heavy losses to India and Ireland, improving their net run-rate, which will be crucial if teams are tied on points.

India's wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was the match's top-scorer with a fortunate 42 off 31 balls, including six fours. Pant had two potential catches dropped in Mohammad Amir's second over, eventually falling to him in the 15th over.

Virat Kohli, who broke Pakistan hearts in Melbourne two years ago with an unbeaten 82, lasted just three balls this time. Rohit Sharma joined him in the dugout seven balls later as India slipped to 19 for two in 2.4 overs.

Axar Patel (20) contributed 39 runs off 30 balls for the third wicket with Pant, who then added 31 runs off 22 balls with Suryakumar Yadav for the fourth wicket, taking India to 89 for four. However, Pakistan fought back to claim the remaining six wickets for 30 runs in just over eight overs, as India collapsed to 119 all out in 19 overs.