T20 World Cup 2024: Bumrah's magic seals historic win for India against Pakistan in NY

CHENNAI: Team India's bowling unit, spearheaded by the unstoppable Jasprit Bumrah, was at its best on Sunday night, defending a meagre target of 120 runs against Pakistan in arguably one of the greatest high-octane clashes recorded in the history of T20 World Cup, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.

The match began with a series of delays: rain postponed the toss, returned after just one over of play, and caused another stoppage before the game could finally proceed.

Rohit Sharma and Co were put to bat first. However, it was not a start India wanted, losing both star openers within a span of three overs. The unpredictable Nassau pitch offered great bounce and swing for the pace attack led by Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Halfway through the first innings, India was 81/3 with Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav at the crease. At that point, the team was looking all set to put a total of around 150 runs - a par score in that wicket.

Mohammad Amir, who has had catches being dropped off his bowling all day, took one for his mate Haris Rauf to dismiss Suryakumar in 12th over which was the start of downfall in India’s batting unit.

From 89/4, it spiralled to 96/7 with nothing going India’s way. Within the span of 15 minutes, the tides turned completely in favour of Pakistan. In the end, India was all out for 119 runs, recording its lowest ever total against Pakistan.

The art of defending

Pakistan was all set to register its second victory against India in T20 World Cup, needing only 40 runs off 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. The win predictor gave a 93% chance for a Pakistan victory at that stage. The situation seemed similar to that of 2022, when India was on the verge of losing against Pakistan and all odds were stacked up against it.

If it was Virat Kohli who proved the win predictor wrong two years ago, this time it was Jasprit Bumrah.

Having already bowled two overs and dismissed the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, India desperately needed him to scalp the wicket of Rizwan, the only set batsman in their troop.

A full-length ball, which Rizwan went to play across hoping that it would bounce a little, did the trick. The ball lowered further to knock the stumps, and the 30,000-strong crowd erupted in joy and anticipation.

From then on, it was a masterclass from the Indian bowlers and Rohit Sharma knew how to rotate the attack. After all, he is a wizard of winning low-scoring games.

He did not use his prime pacer Bumrah even when Pakistan was cruising in the middle overs. Hardik Pandya played a crucial role in filling that space with his short of length deliveries offering an uneven bounce on the New York pitch. Pandya picked two wickets and only gave 24 runs in his spell.

Axar Patel, despite having bowled only two overs, was the first one to start the death overs in which he conceded only two runs, which set the tone for Team India.

Arshdeep Singh bowled the final over and Pakistan fell short by six runs to severely hurt its chances for qualification.

This is the joint-lowest target successfully defended at the T20 World Cup. And with this win, India stretched its overall record to 7-1 against Pakistan in T20 World Cup.