Virat Kohli at the post match press conference after defeating Pakistan by a mammoth 124 runs said that fielding made all the difference. We feel he was being modest because the Pakistani batting was nowhere close to Indian batting effort at Edgbaston yesterday. There were many moments in the game that were special. Like Mohammad Aamir and Rohit Sharma having a word with eachother in the first over of the contest. Also, there was Hardik Pandya who brought Birmingham to standstill with a hattrick of sixes. We were also witness to good knocks by India’s famed top four who set 324 for Pakistan to win in 48 overs. Pakistan got off to a decent start but the brakes were applied in the middle overs where the Indians kept chipping away at the wickets. The run rate was mounting when experienced Shoaib Malik walked out to the centre to take strike.
Suddenly, the momentum shifted, it was still under India’s control but panic was just setting in as the experienced pair of Mailk along with Hafeez was getting well set.
The Pakistan chase was just looking to take shape when Shoaib Malik risked Ravindra Jadeja’s arm. Well, you do not do that, he is the best among the Indian fielders and is a livewire on the field. Malik played with soft hands and dropped the ball to the left of point, Jadeja ran three steps to his left like a cheetah, then took the ball and in one-motion hit the bullseye. That run out had punctured all the hopes of a Pakistan fight.
