India registered a convincing eight wickets victory over Pakistan in a crucial Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup and kept their title hopes alive. It was a do-or-die situation for India MS Dhoni's men responded well to the challenge.

 India who have never lost a World Cup match against their bitter rivals maintained that unbeaten record and now have a real chance in making it to the semifinals of the tournaments.

Pakistan electing to bat first in the match got off to a good start but then Indian bowlers came back strongly to skittle them for a meager 128. The target never looked intimidating for India and they batted with authority to finish the match with three overs to spare.

Here are some of the hits and flops from the match:

India:

Hits:

Virat Kohli: Runs just cannot stop coming out of his willow. Kohli who has been in great form for a couple of years now and once again played a gem of an innings. He came into bat after India lost an early wicket. He played a very sensible knock and treated every ball on its merit. He scored an unbeaten 78 off 61 deliveries which included eight fours and a six. Earlier he bowled three overs and did a superb job by picking up the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez. He gave away just 21 runs in three overs.

Yuvraj Singh: He performed his duties as an all rounder very well in the match. Yuvi who is known for his ability to get crucial breakthroughs lived up to the expectations and scalped two crucial wickets to give a huge blow to Pakistan. His figures for the match were 2-16 in three overs. He also batted well and scored 19 off 16 deliveries including two boundaries.

Laxmipathy Balaji: He was the wrecker in chief for India and accounted for three wickets in the match. He bowled very cleverly and the Pakistani batsmen found it difficult to hit him for runs. He mixed his deliveries well and always kept the batters guessing. He ended the match with figures of 3-22.

R Ashwin: He once again showed the reason as to why he is fast becoming India’s apex spinner. He was simply unplayable in the match and was one of the reasons why Pakistan could not score much during the middle overs. He mixed his line and length very well and took 2-16 in the match in his stipulated four overs.

Flops:

Irfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan is just not able to find his rhythm in this tournament. He is one of the key bowlers of the team but then he has been leaking too many runs for the skippers liking. Even in yesterday’s match when all the bowlers were making merry in the middle, Pathan conceded 30 runs in three overs.

Pakistan:

Shoaib Malik: It was largely due to Shoaib Malik’s crucial knock down the order that helped Pakistan get past the 100 runs barrier. He played a good knock of 28 off 22 deliveries which included three fours. He got out trying to up the ante.

Raza Hasan: He opened the bowling for Pakistan and bowled very well. He got rid of Gambhir for duck in his first over and hung on to his line and avoided leaking too many. He was bowling to the likes of Kohli and Virender Sehwag but did not get intimidated by them and gave only 25 runs in four overs.

Flops:

Umar Gul: He has been struggling in this tournament. Gul, the most experienced bowler in the side again made a complete mess of himself and bowled a wrong line throughout the match. He gave away 30 runs in three overs.

Mohammad Hafeez’s captaincy:  Hafeez looked a very ordinary captain in the match. Defending a small target, he never showed any intent of winning the match and adapted to defensive tactics. He did not attack India and his field placement was a defensive one trying to stop the boundaries. As a result Indian batsmen did not have to take any risk and were happy hitting the odd boundaries and rotating strike in between.

By Indian Sports News Network