Asia Cup 2018: Clinical India Humble Pakistan By Eight Wickets Before Sunday's Rematch In Super Four

India thrashed Pakistan by eight wickets in an inconsequential, one-sided 2018 Asia Cup group match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Wednesday. But with both the teams already in the Super Four, the arch-rivals will meet each other again on Sunday at the same venue.

Chasing a target of 163 runs, the defending champions won the match with 126 balls (21 overs) remaining in the match. This is the highest number of balls spare in an ODI win against Pakistan by India.  This is also their second win in two days, after a nervy 26 run victory over Hong Kong yesterday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma scored a 36-ball fifty, his fastest half-century in ODIs, to help India off to a flying start. He and opening partner Shikhar Dhawan added 86 runs for the first wicket inside the 13th over.

Rohit was bowled by a Shadab Khan beauty, off the first ball of the next over. The 31-year-old made 52 off 39 balls with the help of six fours and three sixes.

Dhawan, who scored a brilliant hundred against Hong Kong, chose to play a subdued knock as Rohit took over the attacking mantle. The left-handed batsman failed to reach a fifty, getting out for 46, with Babar Azam taking a clean catch at point, off the bowling of Faheem Ashraf. His 54-ball knock included six fours and a one six. India were 104/2 at 16.3 overs.

With just 59 runs needed, Ambati Rayudu (31) and Dinesh Karthik (31) comfortably played out another 12.3 overs to complete the chase. Both the players remained unbeaten on identical scores.

For Pakistan, Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf were the successful bowlers, taking a wicket each. Mohammad Amir and Fakhar Zaman bowled some tidy overs but failed to really test the Indian batsmen.

The win will help Rohit Sharma & Co shake off the rustiness they showed against Hong Kong as they prepare for the Super Four stage, which starts on September 21 with an India-Bangladesh match at the same venue. By the way, the Indian team is based in Dubai.

Bangladesh and Afghanistan, from Group B, were the first teams to qualify for the Super Four, after registering their respective shocking wins over five-time champions Sri Lanka.

Earlier, after struggling to beat Associate team Hong Kong in their first Asia Cup 2018 group match, sixth-time champions India dismissed Pakistan for a lowly 162.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat first, probably looking at the history of the fixture.

In the last five previous fixtures, the team batting first has won all the matches. India have won four of those – by three wickets in 2010, by six wickets in 2014, by six wickets in 2012 and by five wickets in 2016. Pakistan beat India by one wicket in 2014.

But it took only 13 deliveries for India to have their first wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissing Imam-ul-Haq (2), caught behind. Bhuvi then made it two in two overs by removing Pakistan's hero of their ICC Champions Trophy final win over India last year Fakhar Zaman (0).

Babar Azam and veteran Shoaib Malik steadied the Pakistan innings. But Kuldeep Yadav broke the 82-run third-wicket stand by removing Azam in the 22nd over, clean bowled.

Shoaib Malik got run out with Ambati Rayudu producing a direct hit in the 27th over.

Pakistan suffered a batting collapse losing five wickets for 36 runs before Faheem Ashraf (21) and Mohammed Aamir (16) added 37 runs for the eighth wicket to take the total past 150-run mark.

But, none of the Pakistani batsmen reached the 50-run mark, with Azam (47) top-scoring. Malik made 43.

Bhuvneshwar and Jadhav took three wickets each, while Jasprit Bumrah contributed with two scalps. Kuldeep Yadav got one.

However, in an unfortunate turn of events for India, Hardik Pandya suffered a freak injury. It happened in the 18th over of the Pakistan innings, when the Indian all-rounder fell after bowling the penultimate delivery.

The 24-year-old was attended by the team physio, and then was taken out of the field on a stretcher.

Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a statement, saying "Pandya has an acute lower back injury. He is able to stand at the moment and the medical team is assessing him now."

Manish Pandey came on as his substitute and soon got into the action by taking a brilliant catch to dismiss Pakistan captain Ahmed off the bowling of Kedar Jadhav in the 25th over.

Brief Scores

Man of the match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
India: 164/2 in 29 overs (Rohit Sharma 52, Shikhar Dhawan 46; Faheem Ashraf 31/1, Shadab Khan 6/1)
Pakistan: 162 all out in 43.1 overs (Babar Azam 47, Shoaib Malik 43; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 15/3, Kedar Jadhav 3/29)

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(c & wk), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan

Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, K Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Shan Masood, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Nawaz, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Afridi