ICC Cricket World Cup: India romp to 89 run win over Pakistan

India on Sunday beat Pakistan by 89 runs (DLS method) in their rain-interrupted 2019 ICC World Cup clash at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium.

Put to bat first after Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss, India, powered by Rohit Sharma's 140 (113), set a target of 337. Pakistan, in reply, reached 166/6 in 35 overs before rain caused a temporary halt to the proceedings. On resumption, their revised target was 302 and they had to chase it down in 40 overs. Only managing to reach 212/6, they fell to their third defeat of the tournament.

Pakistan were dealt an early blow in the chase when Vijay Shankar dismissed Imam-ul-Haq off his very first ball of the match. Brought on to finish the fifth over after Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled up with a hamstring injury after bowling the fourth ball, Shankar sent in a full delivery that swung back into the left-handed Imam and hit his pads. Imam decided not to review the decision and Pakistan lost their first wicket inside the first five overs.

Shankar is the third bowler to have taken a wicket off his very first ball in the World Cup.

However, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam temporarily steadied the ship for Pakistan with a 104-run stand for the second wicket. The pair struggled for runs early on but soon found their rhythm and pegged back the Indian pacers. The breakthrough eventually came only after Virat Kohli introduced the spinners.

Kuldeep Yadav, bowling the 24th over, disturbed the stumps behind Babar with a tossed-up delivery that drifted away from the 24-year-old.

In his next over, he got Zaman and it was all downhill for Pakistan from there.

Hardik Pandya came in then and dismissed veterans Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik off consecutive balls in the 27th over. Sarfraz Ahmed then became Shankar's second wicket of the day and Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan werein the middle when rain brought a stop to the proceedings.

With the target revised down to 302 - but in 40 overs, Pakistan now needed to score 136 runs off the last five overs. Imad and Shadab managed to take them to 212/6.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma pulverised a pedestrian Pakistan attack with a stylish hundred to lead India to a challenging 336 for five in a marquee World Cup encounter here Sunday.

Despite heavy rains and overcast conditions during past few days, the pitch had very little moisture and turned out to be a batting beauty which Rohit and the other Indian batsmen exploited to the fullest.

The Indian vice-captain scored his 24th ODI hundred - 140 off 113 balls while KL Rahul (57) played the perfect second fiddle in an opening partnership of 137 runs.

Skipper Virat Kohli switched gears effortlessly during his 77 off 65 balls and also became the quickest to 11,000 ODI runs, eclipsing a 17-year record held by iconic Sachin Tendulkar.

Mohammed Amir (3/47) pitched the ball up and maintained discipline despite a couple of official 'warnings' for running onto the pitch while Wahab Riaz (1/71) and Hasan Ali (1/84) bowled short consistently.

Courtesy Amir, Pakistan did make a comeback in the final few overs as India managed only 38 runs in the final five overs. Vijay Shankar (15 off 15 balls) struggled with his timing, failing to read Amir's cutters.

The strategy to field two spinners -- Imad Wasim (0/49) and leg-spinner Shadab Khan (0/61) -- didn't work for Pakistan. Their veteran part-timers Shoab Malik and Mohammed Hafeez bowled one over each.

This is India's third win of the tournament and they jump to third on the table, behind second-placed New Zealand on the basis of net run rate. Pakistan, who sink to the ninth place, now need to win all of their remaining matches to make it to the knockouts.