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Virat Kohli starred with a sensational 82 off 53 balls as India defeated Pakistan by four wickets in a final-ball thriller in the T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Hardik Pandya and Kohli stitched a 113-run stand to help India reach the 160-run target and begin their campaign on a winning note. Pandya, who had picked up three wickets with the ball earlier also made a crucial contribution with the bat, scoring 40 in 37 balls.

This was India’s sixth win over Pakistan in seven matches at the T20 World Cup.

Earlier, in front of a packed MCG, Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first.

The Indian contingent went with Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal to exploit the left-handed batters in the Pakistani line-up. Harshal Patel was the pacer left out of the XI as Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh formed the pace trio.

Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep made great use of the slightly overcast conditions and found plenty of movement with the new ball. Arshdeep struck gold with his first-ever delivery in a World Cup tournament, dismissing skipper Babar Azam for a golden duck.

The left-arm seamer chipped in with another big scalp in his second over. His short delivery undoing Mohammad Rizwan, who was caught at deep fine-leg. Pakistan managed just 32 runs in the powerplay as Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed laboured through a tough period.

The duo added just 34 runs in the next five overs before beginning the counter-attack. Iftikhar hit the first six of the game in the 11th over and followed it up with three more of them off Axar Patel in the next over, which took Pakistan’s scoring rate above 7.5 for the first time in the innings.

However, Mohammed Shami provided a much-needed respite for the bowling unit. He got the big scalp of Iftikhar with a terrific full delivery that caught the batter plumb in front of the wickets.

This wicket disrupted Pakistan’s momentum as they went on to lose three more wickets in the next three overs, scoring just 15 runs. Haidar Ali, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz tried to heave Hardik Pandya out of the ground and in that process, they found the fielders.

Arshdeep Singh returned to bowl in the death overs and picked up another prized scalp of Asif Ali. Despite conceding 14 runs in his final over, where Shan Masood also completed his half-century, the Arshdeep returned with impressive figures of 3/32.

A couple of overthrows deterred what could’ve been a peach of a final over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as Pakistan finished with 159/8 in their 20 overs.

Hardik Pandya was the pick of the Indian bowlers, scalping three wickets and conceding 30 runs in his four overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami snared a wicket each.

Post the break, India were off to a terrible start in the run chase, losing three wickets in the powerplay.

Naseem Shah provided the first breakthrough as KL Rahul chopped a length ball from the 19-year-old pacer. Haris Rauf chipped in two crucial blows in two overs.

Rohit Sharma was caught at slips off Haris Rauf and to intensify the woes, Suryakumar Yadav, India’s leading run-scorer in T20Is this year, edged it to the keeper after a bright start to his innings. They managed just 31 runs in the field-restricted overs.

Axar Patel walked out to bat at number five ahead of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik, a gamble which did not pay any dividends. A mix-up between Axar and Virat Kohli while attempting a quick single proved fatal to the side, as Axar ran himself out at the striker’s end.

Then, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya stitched a crucial partnership and curbed Pakistan’s momentum until the halfway stage. The required rate had jumped up to 11.5 from eight at the beginning of the innings, but the experienced duo kick-started their counter-attack by targeting the spinners.

After collecting nine runs off Shadab Khan in the 11th over, the batters hit three sixes off Mohammad Nawaz in the 12th, two of which came from Pandya’s willow. They picked up a boundary each in the next three overs to ensure the required rate did not fly beyond their reach.

Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf gave away just 12 runs in the 16th and 17th overs. However, Kohli unleashed against Afridi with three boundaries in the 18th, followed by two huge sixes in the penultimate over, leaving 16 runs to win off the last six balls.

Hardik Pandya, after completing a 100-run stand alongside Virat Kohli, was dismissed by Nawaz but Kohli managed a six off a no-ball. Despite a little stutter through Dinesh Karthik’s dismissal, Ravichandran Ashwin hit the winning runs off the final ball. \

India will now play Netherlands on October 27 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 159/7 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 52*, Hardik Pandya 3/30) lost to India 160/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 82*, Haris Rauf 2/36)

India will face Netherlands in their second Super 12 fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on October 27.