After a shockingly poor batting performance on September 14 in Dubai against India, Pakistan have returned with a much improved show in the Super 4s encounter against their arch-rivals at the same venue. Led by opener Sahibzada Farhan's brisk half-century, Pakistan finished with a strong total of 171/5, their highest total batting first in T20Is against India. That obviously means that India will need to record their highest successful chase against Pakistan in T20Is to register their first win of the Super 4s stage.
Put into bat, Pakistan should have lost Farhan in the very first over of the game against Hardik Pandya but Abhishek Sharma put down a sharp chance at third man due to total misjudgment. Fakhar Zaman, who was promoted to open the innings, started with a flurry against Jasprit Bumrah before being given out controversially off Pandya. Farhan, meanwhile, started to find his range and he was efficient in the PowerPlay, using the fielding restrictions with some good hits over the infield. Saim Ayub, who was lucky to be dropped very early on by Kuldeep Yadav, got a start but couldn't capitalise as he fell to Shivam Dube.
However, the Farhan-Ayub stand of 72 for the second wicket gave Pakistan the perfect platform for a big total. When they were going great guns, it seemed like Pakistan would post a 180-plus total but Ayub's dismissal saw a strong comeback from India through Shivam Dube who was the best of the bowlers for India. Varun Chakaravarthy was the most economical bowler and was unlucky to be wicketless because two simple catches were dropped off his bowling. Faheem Ashraf's eight-ball cameo of 20*, including sixes off Bumrah and Pandya, gave the perfect finish to the innings after Pakistan's innings had declined a lot in the middle overs.
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The best part about Pakistan's batting was their intent and running between the wickets. The pitch did look a bit better than the last game between the two sides but India were also guilty of being erratic in the PowerPlay. The catching was atrocious and Suryakumar's men will hope that they won't have to regret their shoddy performance in the field. There seemed to be complacency in the way India approached their fielding and catching, and Pakistan capitalised on it. If not for Dube's timely breakthroughs, the score could have been a lot more. Another major talking point was Zaman's dismissal as he was given out caught behind by Sanju Samson although the replays seemed inconclusive.