Pakistan thrash India to end World Cup curse

Pakistan have achieved a victory for the ages, thrashing fierce rivals India by ten wickets in their opening T20 World Cup group match.

Pakistan put India into bat and restricted them to 7-151 in Dubai, with Shaheen Afridi taking three key wickets while only Virat Kohli (57) and Rishabh Pant (39) made any impact with the bat.

Image Id: C75ABD65292F49FB8D64879B73BE3630 Image Caption: Kohli congratulates the Pakistan duo // Getty

Their performances were dwarfed by Mohammad Rizwan (79no off 55 balls) and Babar Azam (68no off 52 balls) who compiled a beautifully constructed unbroken partnership of 152 to win the match with more than two overs to spare.

Geo-politics mean these teams never meet in bilateral cricket and this was the first T20 clash since the last World Cup in 2016 and the first meeting in any format since the 2019 50-over World Cup in England.

India won both of those matches and had never previously lost to Pakistan at a World Cup, which made Pakistan's victory all the sweeter.

Image Id: 1F7FF9B2637D4834A13DD48EBD2E4D71 Image Caption: Afridi gave Pakistan the perfect start with the ball // Getty

"We did not execute the things we wanted to, but credit where it is due, Pakistan outplayed us today," Kohli said.

"With the ball, they started brilliantly.

"It is just the start of the tournament, not the end. It is important to stay composed, understand our strengths and what we want to do in the middle." 

With a near full-house watching on, and hundreds of millions on television worldwide, Afridi began sensationally by dismissing Rohit Sharma for a first-ball duck in his opening over and KL Rahul for three in his second.

Image Id: BDB7E6668D874283A6C01341F0530BD4 Image Caption: Pakistan fans watch on in Karachi // Getty

But Suryakumar Yadav hit the last ball of that over for six and Kohli smacked another six off his third over.

However, Yadav perished for 11, caught behind off Hasan Ali, leaving India 3-31 in the sixth over, forcing Kohli and Pant to consolidate.

They did, running well and taking few risks to accumulate 35 off the next five overs before Pant decided it was time to fire, flogging Hasan for two sixes and taking 15 off the 12th over.

But in the next, he skied Shadab Khan and was caught for a 30-ball 39.

Kohli, meanwhile, reached a 45-ball half-century in the 18th over. In the following over, however, Shaheen's slower-ball bouncer deceived the Indian skipper and he was caught for 57.

Pakistan then cracked 18 off their first two overs and finished the Powerplay on 0-43. With Babar and Rizwan running well and hitting judiciously, they had progressed to 0-71 by the halfway point of the innings. 

Nothing India's powerful bowling attack did made an impact and the result was evident long before Pakistan's skipper struck the winning runs.

However, as joy broke out across Pakistan, Babar cautioned: "There is a long way to go in the tournament."

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2021 ICC T20 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SQUADS FOR ALL 16 TEAMS

How the teams are grouped

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia