Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan beat India for the first time since 2014 to end eight-year-long drought

Dubai, Sep 5: Pakistan cricket team ticked off a major check box in their campaign in the Asia Cup 2022 by registering a 5-wicket win over India in the Super 4 stage of the tournament here on Sunday (September 4).

If round one of India vs Pakistan tie in the continental tournament belonged to the Men In Blue, a resilient Pakistan team came back strongly in round two to clinch a victory in a thriller of a contest to make it 1-1. Chasing a target of 182 on a pitch where batting looked easy in the second innings, Pakistan reached home with one ball to spare, courtesy of some fine batting performances.

Asif Ali and Khusdil Shah helped the team cross the winning line in the final over with their cameos before Mohammad Rizwan (71) and Mohammad Nawaz (42) set the tone for them in the big run chase. Rizwan - who is a man on a mission for Pakistan - along with Nawaz - who was promoted up in the batting order - shared a steady partnership of 73 runs for the third wicket.

Asia Cup: Pakistan vs India in Dubai Stats

Rizwan - who didn't look completely fit after the knee injury he sustained while fielding - once again proved why he's rated highly in this format and constructed his innings brilliantly. He mixed aggression with caution and kept his team in the hunt all through the game. While Nawaz played a whirlwind knock with a strike rate of 210 to push the Indian bowlers on the back foot. Nawaz's knock of 20 deliveries was laced with 2 sixes and six fours and his hittings in the middle overs kept Pakistan up and running.

While Nawaz and Rizwan were dismissed at critical junctures in the game but Indian bowlers and fielders - up to an extent - failed to maintain the pressure on the opposition in the death overs as the game slipped away from their grip.

Young pacer Arshdeep Singh first dropped a sitter to give Asif Ali a breather for a duck in the 18th over and later senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar - who changed the complexion of the game with the wicket of Rizwan in the 17th over - leaked 19 runs from the penultimate over which cost them dearly.

Arshdeep, however, tried to redeem himself by bowling tight lines in the final over with six runs to defend and even dismissed Ali with a toe-crushing yorker on the fourth ball of the match and making the game more interesting with two needed off the last two. But he didn't have enough runs to defend in the end.

With this win, Pakistan have, however, ended a big drought as they've secured the first win over India in the Asia Cup since 2014 at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh. Pakistan won that ODI game by a slender 1-wicket margin with two balls to spare.

Electing to field, the Misbah-ul-Haq-led Pakistan side restricted Kohli & Co. to 245/8 in 50 overs. Regular India captain MS Dhoni wasn't playing that tournament hence Kohli was leading the team.

Rohit Sharma (56), Ambati Rayudu (58) and Ravindra Jadeja (52*) slammed half-centuries but Team India failed to go past the 250-run mark. In response, Mohammed Hafeez top-scored in the game with 75 and other batters made vital contributions to help the team cross the finish line. Shahid Afridi hit the winning boundary for Pakistan.