India and Pakistan clashed in Dubai for the Asia Cup 2018. The two Asian cricket teams had the emotions of patriotism running high even during the India-Pakistan match. This was further fueled by the famous rivalry between the two teams.
The Asia Cup was quite a one-sided event. The Indian team clinically decimated Pakistan by eight wickets. This was one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures of the event. The match was supposed to be competitive. Pakistan batted first and it was a poor display of their batting skills. The start was promising with a score of 85 for 2 in the 22nd over. But after that, everything went downhill. They collapsed to 162 all out in 43.1 overs. The total was at least 100 runs below average. They had no hope of defending with such a poor total. The only promising thing for Pakistan in the entire match was the 82 run partnership between Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik.
Man of the Match Bhuvneshwar Kumar had already sent openers Imam ul Haq and Fakhar Zaman back to the pavilion. Pakistan’s mindset for the match seemed akin to T20 format. The run out of Shoaib Malik proved fatal. Because after that wicket fell, five more wickets kept falling and the scoreboard had not topped the 100 run mark.
India did not back down nor did they take it easy. Captain Rohit Sharma gave a stern reply with 52 runs off 39 balls. This included 6 fours and 3 sixes. His partner Shikhar Dhawan did not miss out on the opportunity. He contributed 46 runs off 54 balls to the Indian cause. Next, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik managed to control the match by scoring 31 each. The target was reached in 29 overs with the loss of just two wickets.
