T20 World Cup: Bumrah stars as India edge Pakistan by 6 runs in last-over thriller

Indian bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, defended 119 to edge Pakistan by six runs in a thrilling T20 World Cup 2024 contest at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on the outskirts of New York on Sunday (June 9). This is the lowest total defended by India in a T20I.

Bumrah was brilliant with the ball, taking three wickets for 14 runs in four overs. His match-turning spell included 15 dot balls. Vice-captain Hardik Pandya too was impressive with 2/24 in four overs. He won the Player of the Match award.

How Bumrah turned the game

Pakistan who were in control of the 120-run chase till the 14th over, lost their way after Bumrah returned for his second spell and dismissed Mohammed Rizwan (31 off 44) off the first ball of the 15th over. When Rizwan was dismissed, Pakistan were 80/4 and from there ended at 113/7 in 20 overs.

With this India extended their domination over Pakistan in T20 World Cups, and hold a 7-1 advantage in head-to-head record.

This was India’s second win in a row in the tournament after having started their campaign with a victory over Ireland in Group A.

Pakistan have now lost both their matches. They were stunned by co-hosts USA in their opener.

India's batting collapse

Earlier, India suffered a mid-innings collapse on a two-paced track and were bowled out for a below-par 119 in 19 overs.

India’s new number three Pant rode his luck en route to a chancy 42 off 31 balls but other batters in the star-studded line-up could not apply themselves on a surface that played better than the earlier ones in New York. Pakistan dismissed India with an over to spare courtesy of an all-round bowling effort with Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf sharing three wickets each.

India lost seven wickets for just 28 runs as they looked in control at 89 for 3 in the 12th over. Intermittent rain delayed the toss and subsequently the start of the game by 50 minutes. Amid overcast skies, Babar Azam expectedly put the opposition India into bat.

After the opening over from Shaheen Afridi, in which Rohit played a sublime pick up shot for six over deep square leg, rain returned to halt the game gain by roughly 30 minutes.

Rare failure for Kohli

Virat Kohli (4 off 3), who has an exemplary record against Pakistan, hit a glorious cover drive off Naseem Shah on the first ball of his innings post the resumption before getting caught at point off a wide and short ball two balls later.

Pakistan had India under the pump when Rohit (13 off 12) departed in the following over from Afridi. The India captain went for another pick up shot but this time mistimed it to be holed out at deep square leg.

The drop-in pitch, which made headlines for the wrong reasons prior to the game, had enough for pacers as well as the spinners but there was not as much uneven bounce as seen in the previous games.

With India feeling the heat at 19 for two, India decided to promote Axar Patel (20 off 18) at number four to shield Suryakumar Yadav, a surprising move as the team has able batters till number eight. However, to Axar's credit, the southpaw did play some bold strokes, including a six over third man off Afridi, in his brief stay.

Pant-Axar partnership

Pant and Axar shared a 39-run strand off 30 balls to ensure the runs kept coming after the loss of openers. Pant, who got two streaky fours off Mohammad Amir at the start of his innings, rode his luck to a play pivotal knock. The gutsy left-hander was also dropped on eight before he gained in confidence to come up with a series of fearless fours. Three came in the opening over from Haris Rauf before he unleashed the reverse shit off spinner Imad Wasim.

A 31-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (7 off 8) took India to a promising 81 for three in the 10 overs.

However, Pakistan fought back between overs 11-15 with as many as four wickets while conceding only 15 runs to leave India struggling at 96 for seven.

Dube's was a rather soft dismissal as he hit one straight back to Shah while Suryakumar tried to dispatch Rauf through the line but was caught at mid-off.

Seeing the wickets fall at the other end, Pant did not hold back and went for a straight aerial drive to give Amir his first wicket. He got rid of Ravindra Jadeja the first next ball with the balling stopping on the batter, leading to a regulation catch at cover.

With more than five overs left in the innings, Hardik had to bat around the tail but did not last long.

(With inputs from agencies)