Pak land double blow as India lose Rohit, Kohli early
Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma succumbed to Pakistan`s bowling attack, leaving the blue shirts at 7/2 in the second inning of the final of the Champions Trophy here at Oval ground on Sunday.
Muhammad Amir got both the wickets.
Earlier, Pakistan set a 339-run target for India, the second highest total posted by Pakistan against India, in the Champions Trophy final.
Pakistan made 338 for the loss of four wickets in allotted 50 overs.
Mohammad Hafeez notched an aggressive 57 off 37 balls not out while Imad scored 25 (not out).
Babar Azam was out after playing a mistimed shot straight into the Yuvraj Singh`s hands at 46 in the 43rd over.
Shoaib Malik left the field after Kedhar Jadhav caught him playing a mistimed shot over the mid-off in the 40th over. Opener Fakhar Zaman fell after scoring 114 off 106 balls.
Pakistan`s 100-plus opening stand was broken as Azhar Ali was run out after a misunderstanding at 59, leaving Pakistan one down for 128.
Both the Pakistani openers - Azhar and Fakhar Zaman - smashed fifties, seeing Pakistan off to a soaring start as India rued missed chances.
Fakhar was given a second life when he was caught behind off a no-ball by Bumrah earlier in the inning.
Earlier, Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and as expected decided to bowl first in Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, here at The Oval.
After being put into bat first Pakistan captain Sarfraz said "we wanted to bowl first but the toss is out of our control”. Confident skipper vowed to put a good score on the board saying hopefully we can post more than 300.
We have nothing to lose today, he stressed.
Kohli commended Pakistan for their performance in the tournament. ‘If you make the finals, you`ve played readlly good cricket, he said.
Title-holders India, who thrashed Pakistan by 124 runs in their opening group match, were unchanged from the side that hammered Bangladesh by nine wickets in Thursday´s semi-final at Birmingham´s Edgbaston.
But Pakistan made one change, with the fit-again Mohammad Amir, who missed Wednesday´s impressive eight-wicket semi-final win over previously unbeaten tournament hosts England with a back spasm, returning.
Amir replaced fellow left-arm quick Rumman Raees, who marked his one-day international debut with two wickets against England.
India´s lone loss so far in this tournament, featuring the world´s top eight ODI nations, was at The Oval when they suffered a surprise seven-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka on June 8.
Pakistan, however, have lost all three of their previous matches against India in the knockout stages of International Cricket Council events.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Kedhar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wkt), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan
