Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to take on each other in the World T20 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday.
The neighbours just played each other in the Asia Cup (India won by five wickets) in Bangladesh last month. But India will still be under pressure as they suffered a 47-run loss in their first World T20 game to New Zealand on Tuesday.
Pakistan on the other hand, started their World T20 campaign with a thumping win against Bangladesh. Shahid Afridi starred with bat and ball to steer his side to a 55-run victory.
As we move into another India-Pakistan story, here’s a look at the last three T20s between India and Pakistan.
1. Asia Cup, Mirpur, February 2016
India and Pakistan squared off against each other recently in the Asia Cup last month. The Indian bowlers, led by Hardik Pandya, tilted the match towards India’s favour after bowling out Pakistan for a mere 83.
But Mohammad Amir made sure that the Indians didn’t breeze to their target. The comeback man got Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane out in the first over and also sent Suresh Raina back to the pavilion in the third over, at which point India were 8/3.
Fortunately for India, Virat Kohli stood up to Amir’s brilliance and put India in the driver’s seat with a determined 51-ball 49 with support from Yuvraj Singh.
MS Dhoni came into bat in the towards the end of the innings. He finished the match off with a four. India won the match by five wickets.
2. T20 World Cup, Dhaka, March 2014
The Men in Blue registered their fourth T20 World Cup win over Pakistan after this match, which India won by seven wickets.
There were no problems for India at all as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals after they were put into bat.
Umar Akmal top-scored with 33 in Pakistan’s meagre total of 130.
The Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got India to a great start with 54 runs and then star batsman Virat Kohli wrapped up the match with a score of 36*.
3. 2nd T20, Ahmedabad, December 2012
Yuvraj Singh made the second T20 of the two-match series in India entirely his own. He smashed 79 off 36 balls in a spell which included seven sixes and four fours.
After Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane got India off to a flyer with 44 runs in the first five overs, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni strung a big partnership of 97 runs from 44 balls, which propelled India’s score to 192/5.
Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad got Pakistan to a great start of 74 runs, but after that they kept losing wickets and finally fell short by 11 runs. Ashok Dinda picked up three wickets in the match.
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