T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli leads India to a thrilling victory over Pakistan

Virat Kohli scored an undefeated 82 runs as India overcame Pakistan by four wickets in a nail-biting last-ball match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was one of the most memorable efforts in the annals of the T20 World Cup.

In front of 90,293 spectators at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, Virat Kohli once again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the best chasers in cricket by smashing an unbeaten 82 off just 52 balls to lead India to an incredible four-wicket victory over archrivals Pakistan in a thrilling Super 12 match of the Men’s T20 World Cup.

When Pakistan were reduced to 159/8 in their 20 overs by the right-left fast bowling pair of Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh, Kohli and Pandya (40) shared a match-winning stand of 113 runs off 77 deliveries, taking India from 31/4 to 160/6 on the final ball of the game to start their campaign on a winning note.When K.L. Rahul attempted to defend against Naseem Shah in the second over, he sliced over his stumps, dealing India a severe blow in their pursuit. Two overs later, Rohit Sharma was caught by Haris Rauf after he tentatively attempted to bat at a 145 kph length ball. The thick edge soared to the first slip, who dove low to scoop an incredible catch.

Suryakumar Yadav collected a pair of fours with a beautiful drive off Rauf and a front-foot pull over mid-wicket. But the right-arm bowler won the day because Suryakumar couldn’t move to cut the ball away because of his back-of-the-length ball on stumps.

He was only able to nip the ball behind to the wicketkeeper, leaving India at 26/3 after 5.3 overs. Axar Patel was run out due to a middle-round mix-up for a nonexistent single, making the situation for India much worse.

When Pandya mishandled the slog and the heavy edge went to cover-point, Nawaz inflicted a devastating blow on the opening ball of the final over. A waist-high full toss that Kohli hit high over the deep square leg boundary with the fourth ball was ruled a no-ball.Dinesh Karthik and Kohli ran three byes on the free-hit delivery after Nawaz gave up a wide before the latter was stumped on the fifth ball. Nawaz gave up another wide, and Ashwin completed the chase by lofting the ball over mid-off to give India the victory.

 

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