Xtra Time Web Desk: It was a day to rejoice for Pakistan fans as they finally broke the World Cup jinx against India that started all the way back in 1992. And they did in style, in what was a one-sided canter that saw them thump India by 10 wickets, handing the Men in Blue their first-ever 10-wicket loss in T20Is.
Left arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was the wrecker in chief for Pakistan as he rattled the Indian top order by removing the dangerous Rohit Sharma in the first over with a yorker.
In the next over, he cramped Rahul for room and did him for pace, going through the gates with the same in-swinger and hitting timber.
If that wasn’t enough, he came back in the death and scalped Virat Kohli to ensure he did no further damage in the last over.
Both the captains scored sensational half-centuries but it was Babar Azam’s that contributed to the winning cause.
Batting first, Virat Kohli’s inning ensured that the Indian batting doesn’t collapse after they were down to 6/2 and then 31/3. With Pant, he strung a 53-run partnership as India took control of the middle overs. He then went on to score his half-century, which was his 29th T20I fifty for India and his 10th in T20 World Cups.
Babar Azam, along with Mohammad Rizwan, was a man on a mission chasing 152. He took time to get into the groove, but once he got his eye, he took the game away from India with a typical, well-paced fifty and carried his bat as Pakistan made history.