June 18, 2017
LONDON: A young Pakistan team stunned the world and created history on Sunday, thrashing an in-form and star-studded Indian side by 180 runs in the Champions Trophy finale at The Oval.
After scoring a mammoth 338 runs, Pakistan shot India down at 158 runs to secure one of the greatest victories in the history of cricket.
Mohammad Amir tore apart the famed Indian top three, shaking India to the core as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan headed back to the pavilion.
Sharma was trapped LBW for a duck while Kohli was caught by Shadab Khan for 5. Amir then had Dhawan caught behind for 21.
Wickets of Yuvraj Singh and Kedar Jadhav were picked up by Shadab Khan while MS Dhoni was dismissed by Hasan Ali, breaking the back of the Indian batting.
An 80-run stand between Hardik Pandya was broken via a run out as mix-up between the two batsmen in the middle diminished the last hope for India.
An over later, Ravindra Jadeja was picked up at slips by Junaid Khan. India were 154-7 at this stage.
It was a mere formality from this point onwards as Pakistan bowled India out for 158, securing one of the greatest wins in the history of the country.
Defending champions lost their last four wickets for the addition of only six runs.
From the get go Pakistan looked like a side on a mission. The opening pair of Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali played shots all over the field as the Indian bowlers looked rattled.
Azhar Ali scored a fifty but was run out in an unfortunate mixup. Fakhar Zaman played the innings of his young career as he smashed 12 fours and 3 sixes en route to his maiden century. Fakhar Zaman was dismissed at 114 but the rest of the Pakistani batsmen picked up from where he left off.
Babar Azam chipped in with a calculated 46 and towards the end of the innings, Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim kept the pressure on. Hafeez scored a brilliant 57 which included some massive sixes.
Title-holders India, who thrashed Pakistan by 124 runs in their opening group match, were unchanged from the side that hammered Bangladesh by nine wickets in Thursday´s semi-final at Birmingham´s Edgbaston.
But Pakistan made one change, with the fit-again Mohammad Amir, who missed Wednesday´s impressive eight-wicket semi-final win over previously unbeaten tournament hosts England with a back spasm, returning.
Amir replaced fellow left-arm quick Rumman Raees, who marked his one-day international debut with two wickets against England.
