But from then on nothing worked for the Indian bowlers. Pakistani wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal toyed with the Indian bowlers except Ashwin finishing the game with 5 balls left. He was well accompanied by Shoaib Malik. Malik had an impressive strike rate of over 200. He scored 37 off 18 balls. India played with 4 frontline bowlers and 7 batsmen.
Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistani bowlers like the Indian bowlers ere also not impressive. Pakistan dislodged the openers within the first powerplay. Gambhir scored 10 and Sehwag scored 26 before getting out. The 3-rd wicket partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma took the Indians to 172 before Saeed Ajmal dislodged Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma scored 56 off 40 balls. Virat Kohli was then joined by Yuvraj Singh. Kohli remained unbeaten at 75. He scored the runs off just 47 balls. His innings consisted of 7 4’s and 2 sixes. Indian posted 185 for 3 in their stipulated 20 overs. Pakistani bowlers excepting Saeed Ajmal put up a dismal performance. 3 bowlers had economy rates higher than 10 conntrasting Ajmal’s impressive economy rate of 5.50. He also picked 2 out of the 3 wickets that fell.
Pakistani openers started off well but Imran Nazir again failed to keep up to the expectations in the international arena. Nazir scored 13 off 11 balls before succumbing to Ashwin. In the same over Nasir Jamsheed was run out without facing a ball. Kamran Akmal came to the crease following Jamshed’s departure. He built a partnership with skipper Hafeez before Hafeez was picked up by Ashwin. He scored 38 off 29 balls. The wickets then kept on falling. Afridi was out duck followed by Umar Akmal leaving Pakistan struggling at 91 for 5. From there on, Pakistan took charge of the game. Akmal and Malik took Pakistan to victory making the target of 185 pretty moderate.
The main tournament begins on Tuesday. The win will certainly boast up Pakistan’s confidence that just lost 3 match T2- series to Australia.
