 "India vs Pakistan, Highlights, Champions Trophy 2017 final, cricket result: Sarfraz and Co upset Kohli's men to lift the title")
Latest Update: Hassan Ali, sharp short ball at Bumrah first up and the batsman gets nicely behind it, defends. Not bad, that technique – the perfect back foot defense, one of the rarest shots now in international cricket.
A ball later, it is all over. Very quick, very sharp bouncer at Bumrah’s head, he waves his bat, trying to fend it off, gets the top edge up in the air and a delighted Sarfraz barely waits to get the ball in glove before he celebrates. And now the whole team lines up to touch their foreheads to the ground.
That then is it, folks. And all you can say is, the best side on the day won, which is what is supposed to happen in sport.
IND vs PAK Preview: A wounded Pakistan will be out for revenge while India will aim to maintain their dominance when the arch-rivals meet in the final of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament at The Oval in London on Sunday. Pakistan have been badly bruised against India this series in their opening group stage match, having lost the game by 124 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method. [caption id=“attachment_3709225” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian captain Virat Kohli (L) and Pakistan’s skipper Sarfraz Ahmed. AFP[/caption]
India may be ahead against Pakistan in ICC tournaments by an 8-2 margin, but in all ODI tournament finals Pakistan holds a 6-2 edge in the head-to-head battle against India.
Pakistan have managed to bounce back in this tournament, defeating South Africa and Sri Lanka in the group stages and England in the semi-finals to book a berth in the final. With Pakistan’s front-line pacer Mohammad Amir declared fit to play in the final after sitting out the previous match, he alongside new ball bowler Junaid Khan will be the key against India to provide their side with early breakthroughs. Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed will also look to use his team’s bowling strength to do the damage against an in-form Indian batting line-up. The spin duo of Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez alongside medium-pacer Rumman Raees – who made his debut in the semi-finals – will look to provide depth and variation to the Pakistan bowling line-up. The batting department for Pakistan under the likes of opener Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman followed by Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez will look to flourish against India having got to good starts in the previous matches but failing to build lethal partnerships. India, on the other side have looked a balanced side with both their batting and bowling departments having managed to click throughout the tournament. India opener Shikhar Dhawan is the tournament’s leading run scorer with 317 runs in four matches and will look to continue his momentum against Pakistan. In-form Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have also helped their side look capable enough of chasing any target. The bowling department for India under the likes of pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin have looked solid bowling economically while providing clinical breakthroughs. Captain Kohli will also look to use off-break spinner Kedar Jadhav – who took two vital wickets in his previous match against Bangladesh – alongside Hardik Pandya to deceive the Pakistan batsmen. Squads: India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav. Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain and wicket-keeper), Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Rumman Raees, Junaid Khan, Imad Wasim, Fahim Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail. With inputs from IANS
