Fast and furious

New York, June 9

Indian bowlers, led by an outstanding Jasprit Bumrah, were collectively brilliant, firing their team to a thrilling six-run win over Pakistan in a low-scoring T20 World Cup match here today.

Bumrah (3/14) and Hardik Pandya (2/24) gave nothing away while defending a paltry 120, and India restricted Pakistan to 113/7.

Earlier, pacers Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir produced wonderful spells as Pakistan bowled out India to 119 after a couple of rain interruptions.

Shah (3/21) and Amir (2/23) exploited a slightly two-paced pitch to apply break on India’s batters, except Rishabh Pant (42 off 31 balls, with 6 fours), who played a few breathtaking shots.

“It feels really good,” said Bumrah, who was named the Player of the Match. “We felt we were a little under par, and when the sun came out, the wicket got a little better, so we had to be really disciplined. I tried to keep it simple, tried to hit the seam as much as I can, focus on my execution. It felt like we were in India, and the cheering is really appreciated, we were really happy with the support we got, it gave us a lot of energy,” he added.

Brief scores: India: 119 all out in 19 overs (Pant 42, Axar 20; Shah 3/21, Rauf 3/21, Amir 2/23); Pakistan: 113/7 in 20 overs (Rizwan 31; Bumrah 3/14, Pandya 2/24)

Rivalry comes alive

A sold-out crowd descended on Eisenhower Park today for the clash of arch-rivals India and Pakistan — a face-off that fans called a dream come true. For Rubal Sikka, who moved to the United States from India 25 years ago and played cricket with friends at Eisenhower Park in high school, watching the match is beyond his wildest imagination. “Saturday, Sunday morning without fail everybody was there, seven in the morning, you know, setting up the field, getting ready for cricket,” the restaurateur and banquet hall-owner on Long Island said. “Never ever did we imagine that, you know, our dream players, people, sportsmen that we look up to are going to end up playing at the same exact spot that we were playing on.”

Fans paid top-dollar on the secondary market for a seat inside the 34,000-capacity temporary stadium. — Agencies