India came up with a champions' performance as they crushed Pakistan by nine wickets in a warm-up match ahead of the ICC World Twenty20, at the Oval, on Wednesday.
Rohit Sharma treated the packed stadium to wonderful strokeplay, smashing 80 from 53 deliveries, as India, replying to Pakistan's 158 for six, cruised to 159 for one in 17 overs.
The victory should serve as a confidence booster ahead of the main tournament, after losing the first warm-up match against New Zealand.
Gautam Gambhir, who was involved in a 140-run stand for the opening wicket with Rohit, was back among the runs, scoring a composed 52 from 47 deliveries.
It was a sight to behold as 23,000 fans packed into the Oval in London. After all, it was an India-Pakistan Twenty20 match.
Though the warm-up game for the upcoming tournament served no purpose, other than being a practice match for both teams, the atmosphere was equivalent to a World Cup final, or any big game, for that matter.
Electing to bat, Pakistan lost wickets regularly and finished on 158 for six in their 20 overs.
Ahmed Shehzad gave Pakistan a flying start with a quick knock of 25 from 19 deliveries, but India fought back with three quick wickets.
It was only a late partnership of 50 runs for the sixth wicket between captain Younis Khan (32) and Misbah-ul-Haq (37 not out) that saw Pakistan get so far.
Yasir Arafat provided the impetus in the final overs, hitting 25 from 16 deliveries, inclusive of three boundaries.
Pakistan:
Fans from both sides started pouring into the stadium as early as couple of hours before the match. The stadium was filled with spectators wearing mostly Indian blue or Pakistani green. A gentle warm-up match for the tournament suddenly looked like a high-voltage do-or-die match or final.
And there were thousands waiting outside, hoping to get in some way or the other.
It was party time for Indian fans as early as the first over, as Praveen Kumar struck with the first over of the match, bowling opener Shahzaib Hasan with a sharp incoming delivery for a duck. (0-1, 0.5)
Kamran Akmal smashed a boundary off the first ball he faced and Ahmed Shehzad hit one through point to get Pakistan going.
Ahmed (5) got a reprieve in the second over when Harbhajan Singh dropped an easy chance off RP Singh, and the 17-year-old rubbed some salts into India's wound when he slammed consecutive boundaries off the last two balls of that over.
Despite the loss of an early wicket, Pakistan got off to a flier, as Kumar also went for runs in the third over. Shehzad, in particular, seemed in complete control as he bagged another couple of boundary to take Pakistan to 35 for one after three overs.
Akmal also joined the party, smashing successive boundaries in Irfan Pathan's first over to take Pakistan to 45 for one after four overs.
Just when it looked like Pakistan had got off to a solid start, India pulled things back by grabbing three wickets in the space of five deliveries.
India struck against the run of play when Akmal was run-out, courtesy a brilliant piece of fielding by Suresh Raina. Akmal, who scored 19 from 9 deliveries, inclusive of four boundaries, took a few steps but was sent back. Raina managed a direct hit at the stumps at the non-striker's end to grab an important wicket for India. (45-2, 4.3)
Ishant Sharma kept Shehzad quiet for the first five deliveries before the youngster obliged him off the last delivery. Shehzad, who made 25 from 19 deliveries, tried a wild hoick across the line through midwicket but only got a top edge, which was taken by Raina in the covers. (45-3, 5)
Shahid Afridi lasted just one delivery before he nicked a wide delivery and was taken by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni diving to his right. (45-4, 5.1)
Shoaib Malik tried to keep the momentum going, hitting two boundaries off Pathan's second over to take Pakistan to 53 for four in six overs.
Pragyan Ojha emerged one of India's finest spinners in the IPL. And even here he started off with a wicket in his first over, having Malik caught behind for 14. (63-5, 8.2)
That wicket pegged back Pakistan, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq resorting to mostly singles and twos against the spinners to reach 106 for five after 15 overs.
Captain Younis then decided it was time to take on the bowling and hit Harbhajan Singh for a boundary using the reverse sweep. His gamble might have worked once but his attempt to try the shot again failed big time and caused his downfall. Younis, who made 32 off as many deliveries, tried another reverse sweep but lost his balance as Harbhajan slipped one down the leg side, leaving Dhoni an easy stumping to complete.
The two batsmen put up steady partnership of 50 runs in 45 deliveries for the sixth wicket, but Younis's wicket pegged them back. (113-6, 15.5)
Pakistan got the much-needed push in the last two overs as they managed 29 runs off them. RP Singh's horror spell with the ball continued as he went for 15 runs in the 19th over, Yasif Arafat getting three boundaries in that over.
Misbah smashed another couple of boundaries in the final over as Pakistan finished on a healthy 158 for six in their 20 overs.
Misbah finished unbeaten on 37 from 30 deliveries, inclusive of four boundaries, while Arafat provided the late boost to the innings with a quick knock of 25 from 16 deliveries.
Surprisingly, Ishant, who bowled his three overs for just 11 runs including a maiden and a wicket didn't get his full quota of overs. Harbhajan again impressed with one for 27 in four overs; Ojha did not get his full quota of overs but took one for 18 in three.
India's strong batting line-up must be fancying its chances on this good batting track; but, again, the key will be how they handle the Pakistani spinners, especially in the middle overs.s
India:
The out-of-form Gautam Gambhir started off in style, clipping Umar Gul through square leg for a boundary off the first ball of the innings, and then hit one over point for his second boundary.
The Delhi left-hander had a poor IPL, scoring just 286 runs in 15 matches at 22.00, andjust 14 runs in the warm-up against New Zealand which India lost; so this could bea crucial innings for him.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma, who had a great run in the IPL continued his good run of form. He had his first boundary in third over when he nonchalantly slapped Gul over mid-on and follow up on Gambhirs boundary off the first delivery of that over.
Promoted to open the innings, Rohit seemed really comfortable out in the middle and proved it by carting Arafat for a six over square leg as India raced to 39 after four overs.
Suprisingly, Pakistan opted not to open with Sohail Tanvir, who had created a reputation for himself as one of the best bowlers in this format after his exploits in last year's IPL.
Rohit flicked Arafat through square leg for a boundary to bring up India's 50 in the sixth over. He followed it up with another boundary to race to 30 from 20 deliveries and India were a healthy 56 for no loss after six overs.
It was Rohit at his attacking best; the Mumbai youngster gave himself room and pulled left-arm pacer Mohammad Amer over midwicket for a boundary.
Tanvir was introduced in the 10th over of the innings and even he seemed to have no answer to Rohit's wonderful strokeplay. The right-hander flicked a full toss through square leg for a boundary as India raced to 88 at the halfway stage, 17 runs ahead of where Pakistan were then.
Rohit then creamed off-spinner Saeed Ajmal through covers for his sixth boundary and followed it up by a single to bring up his half-century off just 37 deliveries. The two batsmen brought up their 100-run partnership in the 11th over, Rohit dominating at 54 runs and Gambhir playing second fiddle with 33 runs.
Rohit got his second six of the match when he pulled a short delivery from Afridi over the midwicket fence to reduce the equation to 36 needed from the last six overs.
Rohit helped himself to another couple of boundaries off Malik in the 15th over to race to 80 from 51 deliveries.
India were cruising at 137 for no loss.
But his blazing knock was cut short when he top-edged a pull shot and was caught at midwicket off Aamer.
Rohit had single-handedly destroyed the Pakistani bowlers during his breathtaking knock of 80 from 53 deliveries, which included nine boundaries and two sixes. (140-1, 16)
He also dominated the opening stand of 140 that he put on with Gambhir in just 100 deliveries to take the match away from Pakistan.
Gambhir helped himself to his half-century off 46 deliveries when a sloppy display in the field saw him get four from an overthrow.
Captain Dhoni also looked in ominous touch as he hit two cracking boundaries to finish unbeaten on nine as India cruised to a crushing nine-wicket victory with three overs to spare.
Gambhir showed good composure when Rohit was taking centrestage to finish unbeaten on 52 from 47 deliveries, inclusive of five boundaries, as India reached 159 for one in 17 overs.
In the end, the good batting track and the lighting outfield proved that India had indeed done a good job with the ball.
But it was Rohit Sharma, who played a magnificent innings to give India a big boost ahead of their opening encounter against Bangladesh on June 6.
