India sets a margin of 319 runs for 3 off the rain-reduced 48-over innings in their ICC Champions Trophy match with Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday.
Put into bat by Pakistan, the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan took India off to a great start as Pakistan struggled to break the opening stand. Sharma brought up his 30th fifty and fifth against Pakistan in style as he smashed Shadab Khan for a six over mid-wicket.
Dhawan was not far behind as he matched Rohit shot-by-shot and got to his half-century in just 48 balls.
The openers had stitched together a 136-run stand before Dhawan was dismissed for 68 off 65 balls as Shadab struck for Pakistan.
The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, came in after the fall of the first wicket and looked in great touch right from the outset. Rohit got bogged down a bit in the middle overs with Pakistan pegging away at the overs as rain interrupted play at Edgbaston.
The match was reduced to 48-overs-a-side as Rohit came out all guns blazing after the rain break. But the Indian opener was soon run out, thanks to a good piece of fielding by Babar Azam as Rohit (91) fell nine short of his hundred.
Yuvraj Singh walked out to the middle with India needing quick runs and the Indian left-hander didn’t disappoint.
He played a brilliant cameo and brought up his half-century in just 29 balls as the Pakistanis were in for a leather hunt.
Kohli (81*), on the other hand, kept the scoreboard moving with an odd boundary every now and then as India got the momentum needed to post a big first innings score.
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