Champions Trophy, India vs Pakistan: Kohli, Yuvraj lead team to massive score

Birmingham: Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh led a late surge to power India to a massive total of 319 for 3 from 48 overs against Pakistan, in a rain-curtailed match, at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground, in Birmingham, on Sunday.

India had gotten off to a slow start, with Rohit Sharma (91) and Shikhar Dhawan (68) taking their time to get settled. However, just as soon as they looked to change gears, rain stopped play for a while.

Rohit and Dhawan came back to score their respective 50s, before a lapse in concentration meant that the latter lobbed an easy catch in the deep off Shadab Kahn’s (1-52) bowling.

India skipper Virat Kohli came at no 3, but the rain also came soon after him, forcing more delays, as the match got reduced to 48 overs. The delay seemed to have affected Rohit’s momentum, and he soon perished after the restart.

However, Yuvraj Singh came in at the right moment, to belt 53 from 32 balls, before Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli provided a grandstand finish, scoring 23 off the last over.

India may have scored a total of 319, but Pakistan will have to chase down 324, in order to win the match (by virtue of D/L method).