Ball-by-ball highlights of Bumrah’s spell vs Pakistan. (Photo Source: Twitter)
India humbled Pakistan at a level playing field in New York on Sunday, June 09 in the match no 19 of the T20 World Cup 2024. After a rain-delayed toss, Pakistan won the coin flip and Babar Azam told that they will be bowling first in overcast conditions and a damp wicket at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The decision rewarded them immediately, as openers Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma departed without troubling the scorers much in the second and third over, respectively.
But with a lot of hiccups and too little to cheer for, the Blues were bundled out for 119 without even playing the entire 20 overs. On a wicket that offered a heavenly 22-yard strip for the seamers, India believed as they had a dependable bunch of speedsters to come good defending a low total. And undoubtedly, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was expected to be the wrecker-in-chief to fancy extending their domination against Pakistan at the tournament.
Speaking of present, now that India have won, Bumrah has been on the cherishable end of receiving massive praises, but there was just something extra apart from those three crucial wickets that helped his team seal the deal.
With that said, let us have a brief overview of Bumrah’s entire spell against Pakistan, and there’s a video too at the end!
Overs 3 and 5, First Spell:
Bumrah was introduced to bowl in the match in the third over, as Rohit had his plans well-thought. The pacer had his field set with just two fielders set outside due to field restrictions, throwing at Mohd. Rizwan and Babar Azam. On the fourth ball of the over, he had Rizwan trapped, only for Shivam Dube to hand a reprieve to the batter, dropping a sitter at deep fine leg. Then, the stumper-batter was batting on just 8 and had faced 13 balls, and was determined to make the most out of the lifeline thereafter. Nonetheless, Bumrah conceded just four runs in his first over.
In the second over of his spell, Bumrah redeemed himself trapping the opposition skipper, as this time, Suryakumar Yadav, stationed at first slip, didn’t make any mess. The wicket of Babar meant that India and Bumrah had gotten the breakthrough needed to put pressure on the opposition without much bearing. At the end of this over, Pakistan had scored 26 runs, and Fakhar Zaman stepped in, as Rohit discontinued Bumrah, considering his job as done for the time being.
Over 15, Second Spell:
Brought back into the action, Bumrah had a very tough task as the equation had narrowed down to Pakistan requiring 40 off the last six overs. Rizwan was still at the crease, and wasn’t taking any sort of risk to walk his team past the crossing line. But the speedster was equally in angst of the wicket denied in the first spell, and this time, juiced the most out of the surface to nullify Rizwan’s efforts, crashing his middle and off stump on the first ball. This wicket pumped a breath of belief in the Indian camp, as they dreamt a miraculous pull-off. Keeping this tight, Bumrah gave only three runs in the over, keeping the game an open-ended affair.
Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah answers whether Mohammad Rizwan is his favourite wicket
Over 19, The Penultimate Showdown:
Key overs by Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Siraj had brought the Indians back into the game, as now, the Men in Green saw their percentage dipping in the Win Predictor. 21 were needed of the last two, and Bumrah got the job of bowling the most crucial over of this match. With nerves of steel, and line and lengths as stiff as his bowling action, Bumrah gave away just three runs in the over and garnished the cherry on top with a wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed, finishing his ball job in the match, as Pakistan needed 18 off the last over with six of their men down.
REPLAY – The four-over mayhem called Bumrah:
India vs Pakistan 2024 T20 WC Replay https://t.co/OGYMZtj13E
— Spartan (@_spartan_45) June 10, 2024
Arshdeep Singh was eased off his task for the 20th over courtesy of a brilliant over by Bumrah in the 19th, and defended the total, granting the Pakistani batters to score just 11 runs. While every Indian fan celebrated the heart-pounding victory, there was also a sense of pride in having the Ahmedabad-born as an asset in the team, on whom the team has relied on for so many years.
Also Read: ‘See you in 30 minutes’ – Jasprit Bumrah, Sanjana Ganesan steal the show with candid post-match chat
The right-arm pacer offered only 14 runs to grab for the opposition during his entire spell, and also picked three crucial wickets. Apart from him, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep also ended with a couple to their respective tallies, as the Men in Blue eventually won by 6 runs to go 2-0 up in the Group Stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, Bumrah got the Player of the Match for this magnanimous performance.