Published: Feb 23, 2025, 09:51 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 23, 2025, 09:52 PM (IST)
In the fierce clash against historic-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025, India beat the opposition by . This victory was led mostly by great knocks of Shubman Gill (46 off 52) and star batter Virat Kohli (100* off 111) .
Choosing to bat first, Pakistan team was struggling to keep a decent momentum throughout the match, going with a run rate hovering around 4. The batting approach was not enough for the team to post out a challenging total, which posed as a pressure-creating situation for the team.
On top of that, Indian bowlers were taking wickets at significant intervals, continuously increasing the pressure on the Pakistani batter. Kuldeep Yadav secured three wickets, along with Hardik Pandya securing two wickets. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Harshit Rana took one wicket each. Two players were dismissed run-out. Saud Shakeel (62 off 76) along with Mohammed Rizwan (46 off 77) were the highest scorer for the team. The team eventually lost wickets at continuous intervals, and were wrapped up for 241 runs.
Indian batting lineup came in strong, with the batters keeping the run-rate constantly over 5. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started the innings on a strong note, scoring nearly 70 runs in the powerplay. Though Rohit Sharma (20 off 15) and Shubman Gill (46 off 52) did not stay up to the expectations, Virat Kohli came in and stayed for an unexpected time on the pitch.
Kohli came in with an unexpected approach and scored a century, surprising all the fans. Along with him, Shreyas Iyer also played strong and secured a half-century. These two knocks were the main stepping stones for Indian team towards their victory, with Kohli’s contribution being the biggest for the team in the match.
Shreyas Iyer got dismissed on score of 56 runs. Hardik Pandya came in to bat on his place, but got dismissed shortly afterwards. Axar Patel was the next to come in, who constantly rotated strike with Kohli. By the end, Kohli had the team winning the match by completing his century on the exact same ball that caused the team to win the match.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 241 all out in 49.4 overs
India- 244/4 in 42.3 overs
