Virat Kohli stayed there till the end, getting to his hundred dramatically with a majestic boundary off left-arm spinner Khushdil to power Rohit Sharma's side past Pakistan's 242-run target
Virat Kohli and India vs Pakistan games: a match made in heaven. Renewing his love affair with pressure situations in the storied rivalry, the Indian chase master on Sunday (February 23) sculpted a near-flawless unbeaten century, his 51st in ODIs, to take the Men In Blue to a six-wicket win in Dubai and all but seal their semi-final berth at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 . (Highlights | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
As is his wont in run-chases, Kohli stayed there till the end, getting to his hundred dramatically with a majestic boundary off left-arm spinner Khushdil to power Rohit Sharma's side past Pakistan's 242-run target. He finished with 100 not out off 111 balls, studded with seven fours and some typically laborious running between the wickets. In the process, the legend became the fastest in the world to cross the 14,000-run landmark in ODIs.
Shreyas Iyer's classy 67-ball 56 and Shubman Gill's brilliant start of 46 off 52 balls were the key supporting acts as India overhauled the target with more than seven overs to spare.
A large chunk of credit for this win can also be rightfully claimed by Indian bowlers, who were stunningly accurate while limiting Pakistan to 241. That total was made possible by Saud Shakeel's polished fifty and Khushdil's cameo.
The pitch expectedly grew slow once the match entered the middle passage, and the precision of Indian bowlers made run-making a laboured task with left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav leading the way (3/40).
India also had a couple of worrying points at this stage as veteran pacer Mohammed Shami and skipper Rohit Sharma had to stay off the field for some time.
Shami had to tend to his shin while Rohit looked in some discomfort primarily because of the heat here. However, both of them returned to the field to allay the concerns.
Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to bat first against India.
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Speaking at the toss, captain Rizwan said, "Will bat first, looks like a good surface. Want to put up a good target. Every match is important in ICC events, we will keep things normal. The boys are familiar with these conditions, we have done well here and we want to do our best today. We lost our last game, but it is past for us now. One change - Fakhar is out, Imam is in."
Rohit though, wasn't fussed about the fact that he lost the toss. He would have bowled first, even if he had won the toss. He said, "Doesn't really matter, they won the toss so we'll bowl first. Looks similar to the last game, the surface is on the slower side. We have an experienced unit in batting so we know what we need to do if the pitches get slower. Need an overall performance from the team - with bat and ball. The last game wasn't an easy one for us, which is always nice. You want to be under pressure and test yourself. We are playing the same team."
India now have a weeklong break, after which they will take on New Zealand on March 2 for their last Group A match of the tournament. But before that, a win for the Kiwis against Bangladesh will seal both India and New Zealand's passage to the last four. As for co-hosts Pakistan, their fate rests with the Bangla Tigers - a loss for Najmul Hossain Shanto's men will knock both Pakistan and Bangladesh out of Champions Trophy 2025.
(With PTI inputs)