Asia Cup 2022: Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar, Pandya bowl out Pakistan for 147

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya struck telling blows as India restricted Pakistan in their blockbuster Asia Cup fixture in Dubai on Sunday night.

At a sold out Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Bhuvneshwar snapped up four wickets, while Pandya three as Pakistan mustered 147. It was only through some late order hitting from Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf that they managed that total.

Earlier, India thought they had opener Mohammad Rizwan off the second ball of the match after pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar rapped the opener on the pads and was given out by the umpire. But Rizwan reviewed it almost immediately and he was proved right as it had height and was missing the stumps.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, meanwhile, showed promise with a delicious boundary straight down the ground, off the first ball he faced.

Rizwan was in the firing line again in the opening over after India thought he had got a faint edge, off the last ball of the over. He was given not out by the umpire and Rohit promptly reviewed but the snickometer showed there was no spike.

Azam had shown promise after he came up with another straight-driven boundary off Arsheep Singh. But his stay was cut short by a short ball by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, that grew big on him and he only managed to top edge it to Arshdeep at short fine leg.

Pakistan tried to recover from that early loss with Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman putting on 27 runs from 19 balls for the second wicket. But Zaman departed with Avesh Khan striking in his first over, eliciting an edge which Dinesh Karthik lapped up in his gloves.

Pakistan managed to reach 50 in the seventh over as Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed went about repairing the damage.

The pair helmed 45 from 38 deliveries, the highest partnership of Pakistan’s innings before Pandya tempted Ahmed with a bouncer. Ahmed fell for the bait and only managed to top-edge a hook to Karthik. Ahmed left after making a controlled 28 from 22 balls which had two fours and a six.

After Rizwan became Pandya’s second victim following a brilliant catch by Avesh Khan, the writing was on the wall for Pakistan as wickets fell in a flurry.

Earlier, Rohit won the toss and elected to bowl.

• Asia Cup 2022: Fans in Dubai warm up to cricket’s ‘El Clasico’