A majestic Kuldeep Yadav, in the company of a wily Varun Chakravarthy and a parsimonious Axar Patel, literally ran through an inept Pakistan batting line-up as India bowled out the arch-rivals for a below par 146 for 19.1 overs in a highly volatile Asia Cup final here on Sunday.
Hamstrung by Hardik Pandya's absence and pushed back briefly due to a solid opening stand of 84 between Sahibzada Farhan (57 off 38 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (46 off 35 balls), the Indian spin troika of Kuldeep (4/30 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (2/26 in 4 overs) and Chakravarthy (2/30 in 4 overs) literally choked them in the back-10 to bring India right back in the match.
From 113 for one at one stage when Fakhar and Saim Ayub were batting, wickets fell like nine pins once Kuldeep got rid of the latter. India got the remaining nine wickets for 33 runs to take the upperhand halfway into the final.
To rub it in, Jasprit Bumrah (2/25 in 3.1 overs), who was having another off day, yorked Haris Rauf and then made half a gesture of a crashing plane in a send-off that reminded one of the Pakistani pacer's controversial gesture to the Indian fans in the previous game.
So what changed between the front and the back-10? It was the lines that the Indian spinners bowled to the Pakistani batters apart from taking the pace-off deliveries.
All the spinners started bowling slightly slower deliveries outside the hitting arc of the batters and that did the trick. Salman Ali Agha and Hussain Talat once again tried to hit their way out of trouble and failed miserably.
However, Pakistan had started off in a brilliant fashion, punishing the loose balls as Hardik's absence was being felt in the Powerplay. Farhan lined up Bumrah early as he had done in the previous two games even as Dube went for a couple of boundaries in his first two overs.
What Pakistan did well was to play within their limitations but make optimal use of the Powerplay which yielded 45 runs. But more importantly, the wickets were intact.
Farhan hit a six each off Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep and Axar while Fakhar slog swept the chinaman bowler for a flat six. Farhan completed his 50 off 35 balls but celebrations were muted this time around.
However things changed after the break as Chakravarthy, after being hit for a six off Farhan, got lucky that his half-tracker was pulled right into Tilak Varma's hands at deep mid-wicket.
Saim Ayub and Fakhar also had a steady stand as they took the score to 113 before the innings completely fell apart.
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