In a thrilling encounter at the Nassau County Stadium in New York, Jasprit Bumrah spearheaded India’s defense of a modest target of 120, leading to a narrow six-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan. Despite a strong start by Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Bumrah’s brilliance shone through, even after a dropped catch by Shivam Dube gave Rizwan a reprieve. Bumrah struck back by dismissing Babar in his second over, courtesy of a spectacular catch by Suryakumar Yadav. At the end of the powerplay, Pakistan were 35/1.
India mounted a remarkable comeback after the 10th over, with Bumrah delivering exceptional figures of 3/14 and Hardik Pandya contributing with 2/24. The match culminated in a tense final over, with Pakistan needing 18 runs to win.
Earlier, Pakistan’s pacers dominated the Indian innings, reducing them to 119 all out in 19 overs. Virat Kohli was dismissed by Naseem Shah after facing just three balls, and Shaheen Afridi soon removed Rohit Sharma in the next over, giving Pakistan the early advantage. Axar Patel, promoted ahead of Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant managed to stabilize the innings briefly with a 39-run partnership off 30 balls. However, Axar’s dismissal for 20 off 18 deliveries by Naseem marked the beginning of a collapse, with India losing four wickets for just 16 runs between the 11th and 15th overs.
The match saw several rain interruptions, initially delaying the toss by half an hour. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first, but rain further delayed the start. When play finally began, Rohit Sharma scored eight runs off Shaheen Afridi’s first over before another rain delay interrupted the proceedings.
