New Delhi: Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan admitted that they couldn’t find a way to dismiss Virat Kohli in their six wicket loss to India in a crucial Champions Trophy clash that put them on the brink of exit from the tournament they are co-hosting.
Pakistan went down in the opening match of the tournament to New Zealand and had to beat India to entertain hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
But at Dubai’s International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Pakistan were bowled out for 241 runs inside 50 overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl.
They then failed to dismiss Kohli, who struck an unbeaten 100, his 51st ODI ton and 82nd international hundred, to guide India to a six-wicket win with 45 balls to spare.
Kohli played 111 balls and struck seven fours in a patient and natured display of batting, nullifying Pakistan’s bowlers to anchor India to a memorable win that put them on the doorstep of advancing to the last four stage.
Rizwan accepted that India were a superior side on the day and Kohli, with his fourth century against the arch-rivals, made the difference.
“I am amazed at the hardwork he puts in. The whole world was saying he was out of form but coming into such a big game, he scored runs effortlessly. His fitness and work ethic is indeed praiseworthy. We tried our best to get him out but we could not,” Rizwan said after the match.
“As far as the match is concerned, we are obviously disappointed, We made mistakes in all three departments. We were not able to take wickets in the middle overs.”
‘Our CT campaign as good as over’
Rizwan on Sunday conceded that after such a demoralising defeat their hopes of moving ahead in the competition is very remote as they have only a group game left against Bangladesh, who went down to India in their opening match.
“We can say that our campaign is as good as over. We have to depend on results of other matches. There is hope as there is one more game left. As a captain, I don’t like this scenario (depending on other teams). We should have fate in our hands,” the keeper-batter said.
Pakistan are hosting a major global cricketing event for the first time since 1996 and are the defending champions, having beaten India in the final of CT’s last edition in 2017.
Virat Kohli, who struck an unbeaten 100, his 51st ODI ton and 82nd international hundred, guided India to a six-wicket win over Pakistan with 45 balls to spare. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
