Pakistan suffered a stunning collapse in the Asia Cup final against India, but much of it was their own doing.
“Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons pointed at each other,” said Pakistani-American comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani on The Seth Myers Showlast year, during a bit focused on showing Americans what a “real” sporting rivalry was.
Unfortunately, by now, the rivalry is almost solely geopolitical. In quite ugly fashion, it has seeped into the cricket as well during the Asia Cup. On the pitch, India and Pakistan occupy different planes of existence in T20, and where Pakistan sit is not pretty. India beat them twice before the final began, both times convincingly.
The third meeting had an odd start, and not just because the broadcasters brought out a host each from India and Pakistan to speak to the respective captains at the toss.
Shivam Dube had the brand-new ball since Hardik Pandya was injured, and to add to the off-beat script, Sahibzada Farhan looked circumspect against his more dibbly-dobbly pace while taking down Jasprit Bumrah, almost with ease. Bumrah also did not bowl three Powerplay overs.
Final, India vs Pakistan
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Things only got stranger after the first six overs. Pakistan... accelerated?
After getting to 45-0, a decent start on what have been some uncooperative batting wickets in the tournament, they stepped on the gas. The next four overs yielded 42, albeit for the loss of Farhan's wicket. Dube's next over went for 11, and Pakistan would have rued the fact that Tilak Varma's over went for only nine.
Pakistan lose 9-33 in astonishing Asia Cup final collapse
After 12.4 overs, the scoreboard read 113-1. At nearly nine an over and with wickets in the shed, surely there was a big score on the cards. Next ball, Saim Ayub slapped Kuldeep Yadav to point. 113-2, still a good position to be in.
14th over. Mohammad Haris jumped down the wicket to Axar Patel, but held back his drive to hole out for a duck. 15th over. The set Fakhar Zaman hacked at one outside off stump – he holed out at point. 128-4 in 15? A bit of a wobble, but nothing serious yet.
In fact, after the first delivery of the 16th, it seemed as though Pakistan still had the upper hand, as Suryakumar Yadav rather desperately appealed for a tenuous "obstructing the field" dismissal against counterpart Salman Ali Agha. It was swiftly dismissed by the TV umpire. But two balls later, it was not an appeal, but Hussain Talat, being dismissed. He swiped across the line at an Axar delivery, and skied one for Samson to take the catch.
Four wickets for 18 runs. The makings of a collapse? Yes. A full-fledged one? Maybe not quite yet.
Until, that is, the following over.
Agha danced down the wicket to Kuldeep, only for the leggie to cramp him for room. Another skier, another catch for Samson; more radical thinkers may have suggested a tactical drop, given Agha's recent struggles with the bat. But India's keeper was not one of them.
Shaheen Afridi came in at eight, swiped at four balls, got given out once (wrongly), and given not out once (again, wrongly). His three-ball duck lasted a minute per ball. Two deliveries later, with two wickets already gone in the over, Faheem Ashraf tried muscling Kuldeep over long-off, but only succeeded in hitting it down Tilak Varma's throat.
Panic stations now? Absolutely. At 134-8, the innings was in disarray.
“They've batted like schoolboys,” Waqar Younis thundered on commentary, the anguish in his voice only overpowered by seethe. “Don't know what this middle-order is trying to do. I have no trust in them.”
Given the passage of the previous 20 minutes or so, Pakistan did well to add another 12 runs before the last two wickets went down, but not before there was some confused running between the wickets, between Mohammed Nawaz and Abrar Ahmed. With five balls to spare in the innings, an agonising half-hour for Pakistan came to an end as Nawaz hoicked at Bumrah, but was caught in the deep. India needed 147 to win.
Nine wickets lost, for 33 runs. A collapse of epic proportions, and something that could almost only be self-inflicted. It's not to say India didn't bowl well, because, well, the likes of Bumrah and Varun and Kuldeep pretty much always do.
But even they need help to pull off something as incredible as this.
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