CT 2017: Finals, India v Pakistan: 5 Game Changing Moments

The stage was set for the ultimate showdown between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, with India having already won against their neighbours in their first group encounter. Pakistani team, since the loss against India in the opening game, didn’t lose a game and went all the way.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to chase. Batting first, Pakistan began the innings cautiously, with runs coming in slow during the first four overs. The run flow began soon after Jasprit Bumrah had overstepped, on the same ball which got the edge of the Pakistan opener, Fakhar Zaman. After that, the batsmen went overdrive to post a total of 338 for the loss of just four wickets, a massive total on the grand day.

India’s chase did not start the way they would have expected it to, with Rohit Sharma caught napping right in front of the wicket to the left-arm swinger from Mohammad Amir. Amir followed his first wicket with the big fish Virat Kohli, who’s leading edge found the fielder. Dhawan too was caught between two minds, which resulted in his dismissal, with Yuvraj struggling to adjust to the spin of Shadab Khan. Tournaments’ leading wicket-taker Hasan Ali accounted for the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni whose pull shot went straight to the fielder.

Although Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 76, India could only muster 158 runs in reply to Pakistan’s 338 runs handing Pakistan their maiden Champions Trophy win, by a margin of 180 runs.

Here are the five game-changing moments from Pakistan’s win over India in the grand finale:

1. Bumrah’s overstepping cost India a wicket:

India would have loved to see the back of the Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman after seeing the damage he could cause to the opposition. Virat Kohli turned to the in-form bowler Jasprit Bumrah to dismiss the Pakistani opener, and the right-arm pacer responded with the wicket.

But it was too early for Bumrah and co to celebrate, as the right-arm quick had overstepped giving the Pakistani opener a reprieve on the biggest stage of the tournament. Fakhar took the reprieve and made Bumrah and India pay the price.

2. Missed opportunities cost India dearly:

Despite the over-stepping by Bumrah early in the Pakistani innings, India had several other chances they could have redeemed the missed opportunity. In the day and life, where fielding has become one of the most important components of the game, India missed not one, two, but several opportunities and in a big game it is always about converting the half chances into wickets especially when the bowlers have little or no help.

The Indian fielding unit, which blew hot and cold in the tournament thus far entered an all-time low with several missed opportunities. The Pakistani openers could have easily been sent to the huts, had the Indian fielders hit the target. Several culprits included the opener Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and the captain Virat Kohli himself.

3. Mohammad Amir’s opening spell:

It was proved today that it is not only dragons who breathe fire. Pakistan’s opening bowler Mohammad Amir blew fire right into the heart of the Indian batting, in some style. The left-arm quick returned to the game following a side strain, and he marked his return in some style.

Amir picked up the wicket of the opener Rohit Sharma in the opening over of the game and did not stop there; he proceeded to bamboozle the Indian skipper Virat Kohli with a beauty of delivery which caught the outside edge of his bat and was caught well by Shadab Khan. He wasn’t done yet and Amir picked up the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan who was starting to play his shots and look dangerous thus breaking the backbone of the Indian batting.

4. Hardik Pandya’s run out

While the Indian top-order crumbled under the pressure against the Pakistan pacers and the leg-spinner Shadab Khan, there was a certain Hardik Pandya who kept his calm to score runs at a free-flowing rate. The all-rounder from Baroda had the nerve of steel, to go past the early jitters to compose an innings of such value.

He was by far one of the best Indian bowlers in the finals, with figures of 1/53 in his ten overs. Pandya, with the willow, scored 76 runs off 43 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes. He was in his zone and hitting the ball really well but Ravindra Jadeja prized his wicket more and left him absolutely frustrated as he returned back to the pavilion expressing his disgust.

5. Shadab Khan’s spell

One could argue that Pakistan won the match due to the opening spell of left-arm seamers Junaid Khan and Mohammad Amir, but one has to give credit to the leggie spinner Shadab Khan for his spell against Yuvraj and Dhoni in the middle overs.

He eventually went for runs thanks to the brilliance of Pandya but Shadab accounted for Yuvraj Singh with one that came back into the left-hander after taking the first ball away. He followed it with the wicket of the right-handed batsman Kedar Jadhav, who attempted to pull a short ball but it took real turn to take the outside edge and Sarfraz was glad to grab it.