DUBAI: Part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets apiece as Pakistan crumbled to 162 all out in their Group ‘A’ Asia Cup match against arch-rivals India in Dubai on Wednesday.

Pace bowler Kumar took three for 15 while off-spinner Jadhav finished with three for 23 as Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, collapsed from 85 for two to be bowled out in 43.1 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium after Sarfraz Ahmed decided to bat first.

At the sold-out Dubai arena where the two teams were meeting for the first time, Pakistan lost their openers within the first six overs and even a third-wicket partnership of 82 between Babar Azam (47) and Shoaib Malik (43) could not put them on the path to recovery.

Babar was bowled with the score on 85 after he tried to step out to left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and missed the line completely, and the next four wickets could only put together 56 runs as they struggled against the flattish off-spin bowling of Jadhav.

Babar hit six boundaries in his 62-ball knock while Malik, dropped on 26 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Hardik Pandya, cracked one six and one four in a vigilant innings lasting 67 deliveries.

India’s bowlers gave away just three runs in the first 5.1 overs and removed the openers. Jasprit Bumrah, back in the team after getting a rest against Hong Kong on Tuesday, did not give away a single run in his first two overs, and Kumar reaped the rewards as the suffocated Inam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman fell to ambitious shots.

Kumar later returned to remove tailender Hasan Ali.

There was a bit of scare for India when all-rounder Hardik Pandya needed to be stretchered off the field after injuring his lower back while bowling the 18th over of the inning.

Bowling his fifth over, Pandya fell in his follow through and was stretchered off with a lower back injury, the extent of which was being assessed by the India team’s medical staff.

India made two changes to the team that won against Hong Kong, with Bumrah and Pandya coming in for Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed, who impressed on his full international debut with three wickets.

Pakistan fielded an unchanged XI following their eight-wicket win over Hong Kong on Sunday.

Both teams have already qualified for the Super Four stage of the tournament from Group ‘A’ while Bangladesh and Afghanistan join them from Group ‘B’.

The top two teams from the Super Four round-robin will contest the final in Dubai on Sept 28.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Imam-ul-Haq c Dhoni b Kumar 2

Fakhar Zaman c Chahal b Kumar 0

Babar Azam b Yadav 47

Shoaib Malik run out 43

Sarfraz Ahmed c sub b Jadhav 6

Asif Ali c Dhoni b Jadhav 9

Shadab Khan st Dhoni b Jadhav 8

Faheem Ashraf c Dhawan b Bumrah 21

Mohammad Amir not out 18

Hasan Ali c Karthik b Kumar 1

Usman Khan Shinwari b Bumrah 0

EXTRAS (LB-6, NB-1) 7

TOTAL (all out, 43.1 overs) 162

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-3, 3-85, 4-96, 5-100, 6-110, 7-121, 8-158, 9-160.

BOWLING: Kumar 7-1-15-3; Bumrah

7.1-2-23-2; Pandya 4.5-0-24-0; Chahal

7-0-34-0 (1nb); Yadav 8-0-37-1; Rayudu 0.1-0-0-0; Jadhav 9-1-23-3.

INDIA: R.G. Sharma, S. Dhawan, A.T. Rayudu, K.D. Karthik, M.S. Dhoni, K.M. Jadhav, H.H. Pandya, B. Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Y.S. Chahal, J.J. Bumrah.

UMPIRES: M. Erasmus (South Africa) and R.S.A. Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: G.O. Brathwaite (West Indies).

MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018