ADELAIDE (Sporting Alert) — India beat Pakistan by 76 runs in Pool B action at the ICC 2015 World Cup on Sunday to continue the impressive run over their arch rivals in tournament history.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the defending champions reached 300 for 7 off 50 overs, with Virat Kohli leading the way with the bat with 107 runs. Suresh Raina made 75 and Shikhar Dhawan added 73 at the top of the order to setup the winning total for India.
Sohail Khan finished with five wickets for 55 runs to be the leading bowler for Pakistan, which dropped its latest six World Cup attempts against India.
Kohli, as expected, was named Man of the Match for his knock after surviving being dropped.
“(It’s an) amazing way to begin our World Cup,” Kohli said. “Big game against Pakistan, amazing fight from them.
“Last couple of days have been too tough. Too many people in the hotel getting worked over. You just have to stay in your little space.
“My role in the team is to bat through, and the power-hitters can play around knowing that one end is secure. The way Shikhar and Suresh batted today is commendable. We expect the same throughout the tournament. Too loud at times for MS to catch our attention.”
Pakistan were then all out for 224 off 47 overs in their run chase, as only captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who hit a positive 76 offered any resistance to the Indian bowling. Ahmed Shehzad also scored 47 runs at the top of the order.
Mohammed Shami finished with four wickets, while Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav both grabbing two wickets apiece in the bowling department for India.
“It was a very good performance,” Indian captain MS Dhoni said. “I was very happy with our batting. When you are batting first, it is not easy over here.
“It doesn’t come on that nicely. It has a bit of a variable pace initially. Gets comfortable after that. It was important we stayed in the middle. The big partnership between Virat and Shikhar.
“And then Raina capitalised as well. The break in between was important. the World Cup itself can get you going. Also the fans. Even before we came here, there were a lot of fans in our lobby. That helped.”
Losing captain Misbah-ul-Haq was understandable very disappointed with the final result and he added that losing quick wickets in the middle order was the main reason for his team’s collapse.
“They played really well,” he told report after the end of the game. “They posted a big total, and bowled really well. We lost our way with three wickets in the middle.
“The pitch was really good, and with the quality of their batting, 300 was a pretty good effort. If all the batsmen had batted well, it could have been achieved.
“Two-three batsmen never got in, and got out in the first couple of balls. You can’t say much about that. Now we have to just look forward. You can’t just think of this game. We have to focus on the next one.”
ADELAIDE (Sporting Alert) — The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup continues with Pool B action from the Adelaide Oval, with India taking on Pakistan in the 4th Match of the tournament.
This game, described by many as one of the world’s most intense international derby, is expected to reach over a billion viewers, and fans can follow live streaming coverage courtesy of ESPN and the ESPN Network, as well as Sky Sports 2. The live coverage will begin at 10 PM ET. ESPN Live Scoreboard
Pakistan haven’t beaten India in the past five World Cup attempts, but they are confident that the preparations leading up to the tournament has given them the boost they needed to end that run.
India, meanwhile, won the toss and captain MS Dhoni has decided to bat first on what looks like a good pitch to score runs early.
The clash will see two of the game’s top nations facing-off from the get-go and the pressure is certainly on for either side to deliver.
At the same time though, MS Dhoni has dismissed suggestions that India, being the defending champions, have more to prove in this contest.
Meanwhile, the team news see Mohit Sharma getting a World Cup start for India, while Umar Akmal will remain as the wicketkeeper for Pakistan to give then another quality batsman and the chance to play another bowler.
World Cup history favours India heading into this matchup, but Misbah-ul-Haq isn’t too bothered by the past.
India Team
RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli, AM Rahane, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, UT Yadav, MM Sharma, Mohammed Shami
Pakistan Team
Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal†, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Irfan
Toss – India, who chose to bat
Player of the match – tba
Umpires – IJ Gould (England) and RA Kettleborough (England)
TV umpire – SJ Davis
Match referee – RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire – MA Gough (England)
