Top 5 factors which helped India to win against Pakistan

In one of the most awaited contests of recent times, India defeated Pakistan for the 6th time in World Cups at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. After winning the toss and choosing to bat first on a placid batting surface, the Indian batsmen played some spectacular shots to all corners of the ground to put up a mammoth total of 300 for 7 on the board. Pakistan couldn’t even make it a close contest as they fell short by 76 runs.Here are 5 factors which helped India acquire a massive victory:

#1 129-run partnership by Dhawan and Kohli

India needed to put up a big partnership in order to amass a formidable target after Rohit Sharma fell for 15 runs in the 8th over of the Indian innings. Virat Kohli, who came in at his favourite No. 3 position, looked jittery at the start and was a tad fortunate to be let off on 3 by Yasir Shah. Shikhar Dhawan, at the other end, looked very determined after enduring a tough series against Australia and scored a half-century in just 54 balls.

Both Kohli and Dhawan built their innings around stealing the singles and rotating strike frequently while the occasional boundaries kept the momentum going. This partnership demoralized the Pakistani bowlers and they leaked runs in the each corner of the ground. However, it didn’t last for a long time as a direct hit by Misbah sent Dhawan back to the pavilion. Dhawan scored 73 in 76 balls with 7 boundaries and 1 six. This partnership of 129 runs in 134 balls built a basic foundation and India could eye a target of 300.

Later, Kohli went to score the 22nd century of his ODI career and was duly awarded the man of the match.

#2 Raina at No. 4

Surprisingly, Suresh Raina came into join Kohli after Dhawans wicket. Rahane could havebeen the conventional choice at no. 4, but Raina proved to be the better choice who accelerated the score as well as maintained a right and left-hand combination, as Dhoni explainedin the post-match press conference.

Raina made his intentions clear when he hit a six for Sohail over the deep mid-wicket. He performed his role perfectly and took calculated risks to hammer 5 boundaries and 3 sixes and rotated the strike wellto make an important partnership of 110 in 93 balls with Kohli,which took away the game from Pakistan.

Finally,in the quest of accelerating the score, Raina gave away his wicket and returned to the pavilion after scoringa quick-fire 74 runs in 56 balls.

#3 Ashwins 3 maidens

Pakistan lost their first wicket after 11 runs in the form of Younis Khan, which brought Pakistan in a defensive mode and it started increasing the asking run-rate. Ahmed Shehzad and Sohail understood the situation well and started playing sensibly with the singles and doubles. The target of 301 was looking achievable with a half-century partnership between them. Eventually, Dhoni handed over the ball to Ashwin to break the partnership.

Aswhin started his bowling with the first over as a maiden. In his third over, he didn’t give any freedom to Sohail on the first five balls. Sohail couldn’t handle the pressure of the increased asking run-rate and edged the last ball of the over to the slip. This wicket began the derailing of the Pakistani batting line-up.

Ashwin bowled 3 maidens at the crucial phase of the match. The last time any Indian pulled of this record of 3 maidens in a match of the World Cup was in 1979 by S. Venkataraghavan.

#4 Umesh Yadavs Second Spell

Ahmed Shehzad smashed two boundaries to Ashwin and tried to ease the pressure. On the other end, Misbah looked determined to build a much-needed partnership with Shehzad. But, once again, Dhoni played a masterstroke by handing over the ball to Umesh Yadav for his second spell. Yadav took two wickets in three deliveries to break the backbone of Pakistan team’s middle order.

Ahmed Shehzad was the first victim who showed the lack of temperament and handed over a catch to Jadeja who pull it off in the second attempt. Umesh picked up Sohaib Maqsood’s wicket in the same over to reduce Pakistan to 102 for 4 wickets.

The sensational over by Umessh Yadav made the Pakistani batsmen restless. Umar Akmal fell to this pressure in the very next over by Jadeja. India could smell a big victory with Pakistan’s score reading 105-5.

#5 Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma:[18-1-70-6]

Shami and Mohit can be rated as the unsung heroes of this match. They together grabbed 6 wickets in 18 overs to give only 70 runs.

Shami took the wicket of Younis Khan, who is a run machine against India. He bowled an unplayable bouncer to Younis which produced a top edge caught by Dhoni. Pakistan could never recover from the pressure created by this wicket and the run-rate went dipping which made the Pakistan players chose wrong shots to accelerate.

Meanwhile, when Umesh Yadav went on to become expensive in his first spell, Mohit Sharma replaced him and bowled some economical overs. He gave only 21 runs in the first spell of 5 overs. Later, he joined forces with Shami to remove the tail-enders in his second spell.

Shami’s bowling figures read 9-1-35-4, while that of Mohit Sharma’s read 9-0-35-2.