There has always been a high intense atmosphere whenever India and Pakistan faced each other in a cricket match. One of the most memorable encounters between the arch-rivals took place during the 2022 T20 World Cup fixture at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. In front of more than 90,000 spectators in the stadium, Indian batter Virat Kohli produced one of the best T20I knocks as India defeated Pakistan in a last-over thriller by 4 wickets to kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign.
Notably, Pakistan defeated India in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2021, end finally ended India’s winning streak against them in the World Cup. Now, after almost one year, Pakistani pacers stunned the Indian top order and were on the verge of a second back-to-back victory against Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup. However, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya turned out to be saviors after the top-order collapse and ignited a ray of hope among Indian fans.
India pulled off thrilling run chase after 31/4
Batting first, Pakistan posted 159/8 in their 20 overs, with Shan Masood (52* off 42) and Iftikhar Ahmed (51 off 34) scoring fifties. For India, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh took 3-3 wickets. Coming to chase the target, India had a disastrous start as they lost both their opener at the score of 10 runs in 3.2 overs. After a few overs, the score was reduced to 31/4 after 6.1 overs. After that, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya took charge of the innings as they duo put a partnership of 113 runs for the fifth wicket.
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40 off 37) recovered India from early collapse but the job was still yet to be done. The match went down to the situation where India needed 28 runs off the last eight balls. After that, Kohli smashed two back-to-back sixes to Haris Rauf as India were now back in the game. With a lots of drama in the last over, India finally sealed one of the most iconic victories in the T20 World Cup, Kohli was a hero for India for his unbeaten 82*(53) runs, along with six fours and four sixes.