World Cup Day 10: India overwhelm Pakistan in one-sided Ahmedabad clash

The sea of blue that had descended on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad were in fine and enthusiastic voice as the teams from India and Pakistan took to the field for the anthems. The eagerly awaited contest is one of the biggest in sport and not just in cricket. The fact that this match was being played in India, in front of an entirely partisan Indian crowd, itself added an extra dimension.

The first explosion of joy came at the announcement that Rohit Sharma had won the toss and chosen to bowl first. The second cheer was reserved for the news that Shubman Gill had sufficiently recovered from Dengue fever and was able to take his spot at the top of the order.

Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq got off to a decent start and were dealing in boundaries during the first few overs. Shafique was plumb LBW, walking across his stumps, when the ball kept low, as many did throughout the day, and cannoned into his front pad. No need to review.

Hardik Pandya drew an outside edge from an Imam-ul-Haq cover drive and KL Rahul took an efficient catch behind the stumps. Pakistan's other opener now had to depart for 36 and the team in green were 73/2.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the pair that are so often required to bail Pakistan out of trouble, set about building a partnership. They looked to be taking their side to a reasonable total when Babar Azam, having just reached fifty, attempted to run a ball from Mohammed Siraj down to third, missed it, and was bowled towards the top of the off-stump.

This was when the momentum in the game changed dramatically in favour of India. Prior to the captain's dismissal, Pakistan had been 155/2 in the 30th over. Saud Shakeel nearly ran himself out off the first ball he faced, although luckily for him the throw was wide of the target. He was dismissed soon after by Kuldeep Yadav - LBW following a review.

The collapse had begun. Iftikhar Ahmed was bowled via a deflection off his glove as he attempted to sweep Kuldeep Yadav and then Bumrah claimed the wickets of Rizwan and Shadab Khan. Bumrah got the ball to do just enough to beat the batter and clip the top of the stumps. Rizwan was beaten by an off-cutter and Shadab by one that pitched on off and straightened.

Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali did not hang around for long and Pakistan, who had been 155/2, now found themselves dismissed for 191. The final eight wickets fell for just 36 runs in one of the most dramatic batting collapses you will see.

India's bowlers were excellent and got even better as the innings progressed. Aside from Shardul Thakur, each of India's bowlers took two wickets each, proving that it was a team bowling effort to restrict Pakistan to a significantly below-par score.

Kuldeep Yadav's 2-35 helped India suppress the run rate during the middle overs and Bumrah's seven overs claimed two wickets and conceded just 19 runs. Mohammed Siraj was expensive to start off with but made up for it with the wicket of Babar Azam, the most important of the lot.

India's openers meant business and both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off the mark with boundaries from the first balls that they faced. Gill's timing, in particular, was exemplary and showed no lasting signs of fatigue from the illness that had kept him out of the team. He was however the first to depart. Shadab Khan claimed an excellent catch at backward point after Gill got a lot of power on a cut but couldn't beat the fielder.

The score was now 23/1 in the third over. Sharma, now joined by Virat Kohli, continued to show the impetus that he had shown in the previous match and that had been lacking from Pakistan's innings. India progressed to 79/2 at the end of the first ten over powerplay. Virat Kohli, in the tenth over, had got a toe-end on a pull shot and could only pick out the fielder at mid-on.

Sharma went to 50 from just 36 balls. His innings to this point had contained four sixes; four more than Pakistan had managed in their innings of 42.5 overs. The dismissal of Kohli did not slow India down and in particular, it did not slow down Rohit Sharma.

He added a further two sixes to his tally before falling for 86 in the 22nd over. He was unable to go on to get his eighth ICC Men's World Cup hundred which would have put him two clear of Sachin Tendulkar.

Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul made a comfortable 36 from 53 balls to take India over the line with 117 balls still available in the match.

A brilliant result for India sees them go three from three and sit at the top of the table on net run rate. New Zealand are the only other team who are unbeaten in three matches, although South Africa can join them if they win their next game against the Netherlands.

For Pakistan, who suffered their first defeat, it highlighted familiar issues namely the lack of fire-power in the batting and the fact that their spin bowling options are decent, they are not as penetrative and threatening as many other team's spin attacks.

India will next take on Bangladesh and Pakistan will face Australia. Tomorrow sees England take on Afghanistan in Delhi.