Asia Cup 2018, Super Four: India Vs Pakistan – As It Happened...

India bowl first in their second Asia Cup 2018 Super Four match against Pakistan at Dubai on Sunday. Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat first.

For all the hype... It's India 2-0 Pakistan. And a third is still a distinct possibility.

India beat Pakistan comprehensively by nine wickets with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hitting hundreds. India achieved the target with 63 balls to spare. hit the winning runs. Ambati Rayudu hit the winning runs.

Rohit remained unbeaten on 111 with Ambati Rayudu on 12. Dhawan scored 114.

19th hundred for Rohit

Indian captain reached his 19th ODI hundred with a double off the second ball of the 36th over, bowled by Shoaib Malik. He now levels with Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor. India 221/1, need another 17 runs to win.

Dhawan gets run out

Shikhar Dhawan pushed for a non-existent single, and he's out. 114 (100) with 16 fours and two sixes. It happened off the third ball of the 34th over. India are 211/1 after the end of 34th over.

His 204-run opening stand with Rohit Sharma is India's record in run chases, beating Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag's unbeaten 201 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2009.

15th 100 for Dhawan, 7000 runs for Rohit

Shikhar Dhawan reached his 15th ODI hundred in his 108th innings, becoming the second quickest Indian after Virat Kohli (106), and third quickest in the world. South African Hasim Amla reached it 86th innings. He reached the landmark with a four off the third ball of 32nd over, bowed by Shaheen Afridi. He took 95 balls to reach the hundred.

A ball earlier, Rohit reached 7000th ODI run with a single. At the end of the over, India were 208/0. India need 30 runs to win the match.

Record for India

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan registered India's highest opening stand against Pakistan. The previous record was 159, by Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar at Dhaka in 1998. India were 171 without loss after 29 overs. Dhawan (88) and Rohit (82) are racing for the first century of the match.

India need 100

After 25 overs, India were 138/0 with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 80 and 57 runs respectively. India exactly need another 100 runs to win the match.

37th fifty for Rohit

Rohit took a double off the fifth ball of 22nd over, bowled by Mohammad Amir. And back-to-back fifties for the Indian captain. It's also his 37th in ODIs. India were 119/0 after the end of 22nd over.

100-run stand

No respite for Pakistan bowlers as Rohit Sharma (44) and Shikhar Dhawan (62) continue to score runs at will. They have posted 107 runs in 20 overs. India need another 131 runs from 30 overs.

It's their 13th 100+ opening stand, going past Sachin Tendulkar-Virender Sehwag's 12. Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly (21) still is the Indian and world record though.

Fifty for Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan hit the last ball of 18th over, bowled by Shadab Khan, to reach his fifty. The left-handed batsman took 56 balls to reach his 26th fifty. India were 91/0 after 18 overs. Rohit was unbeaten on 40 off 52 balls.

Fluent start to the chase

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan already added 23 runs in 30 balls to give India a fluent start to the chase.

India need 238 runs to beat Pakistan.

Pakistan Innings

After a slow start, Pakistan made 237/7. They lost both the openers Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman inside the first 15 overs. But a 107-run stand for the fourth wicket by skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (44) and veteran Shoaib Malik (78) steadied the innings. Asif Ali played an entertaining knock of 30 runs from 21 balls.

Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each. In the process, Chahal got his 50th ODI wicket.

50th ODI wicket

Yuzvendra Chahal takes his 50th ODI wicket. He clean bowled adventurous Asif Ali 30(21). Chahal took 30 matches to reach the mini-landmark. He is fifth quickest Indian to do so, after Ajit Agarkar (23), Kuldeep Yadav (23), Bumrah (28) and Mohammed Shami (29).

Bumrah sends Malik back

Jasprit Bumrah removed the danger-man Shoaib Malik, caught behind. The former Pakistan captain made 78 off 90 balls with the help of four fours and two sixes. It ended a 38-run fifth-wicket stand. Pakistan were 203/5 after 43.4 overs.

22-run over

Huge over for Pakistan. 22 runs from India's premier bowler Bhuvi in the 42nd over. Shoaib Malik started with a four, then Asif Ali took over, hitting two sixes and four to make the over most expensive of the match. Pakistan 199/4 after the end of 43rd over.

Kuldeep strikes

Kuldeep Yadav breaks the 107-run stand between Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik by removing the Pakistan captain, caught at cover. Ahmed made 42 off 60 balls. Pakistan were 165/4 at 38.5 overs.

43rd fifty for Malik

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik took a single off the fifth ball of the 35th over, bowled by Bhuvi, to reach his 43rd ODI fifty. He and skipper Sarfraz added 83 runs for the fourth wicket. Pakistan were 141/3 after the end of 35th over.

Pakistan rebuild

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and veteran Shoaib Malik continued rebuilding Pakistan innings. The duo already added more than 40 runs for the fourth wicket. After the end of 27 overs, Pakistan were 99/3 with Ahmed on 19 and Malik on 24.

Two quick wickets

One expansive sweep shot proved costly for Fakhar Zaman. The Pakistan opener tried to play a sweep shot with feet spread wide but ended up on the floor and a relatively easy LBW decision followed. Wicket to Kuldeep Yadav. From 55/2 in the 14.3 overs, it soon became 58/3 in 15.5 overs as Babar Azam found himself short of the crease while going for a quick single.

Chahal gives India early breakthrough

Yuzvendra Chahal struck in the 7th over to remove Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq, LBW. That's Chahal's first-ever wicket in the first 10 overs of an ODI, thanks to MS Dhoni's call for the review after the umpire ignored it the shout initially. Pakistan were 24/1 after 7.6 overs.

India are fielding an unchanged  XI, but Pakistan made two changes. Shadab Khan and Mohammad Amir are in for Haris Sohail and Usman Shenwari respectively.

Ahmed's decision came as a surprise to many as Dubai track most of the time gets better under the light, and also considering the fact that India are probably the best chasing side. India registered comfortable wins while chasing in the last two matches.

In their previous meeting, India restricted Pakistan for a paltry total of 162, then chased down with 126 balls to spare. It was India's biggest win in terms of balls remaining.

Both the sides have won their respective opening Super Four matches, and the winner today will book a final's ticket.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, 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, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi

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