ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan beats India in Final by 180 Runs

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan beats India Update: Pakistan, at their most magnificent, swarmed all over India to win the Champions Trophy by 180 runs. 

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan beats India. It was the same template as when they won their previous global one-day tournament, the 1992 World Cup, in that Pakistan were hopeless at the outset of this tournament, which they entered as the eighth-ranked ODI team, to be demolished by India in their opening qualifier. Yet, England in the semi-final and India in the final could not live with them.

 

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan beats India. Having failed to reach 250 so far in this tournament, Pakistan posted 338 for four on the back of a dashing century by Fakhar Zaman, who slammed 114 off 106 balls, then bowled out India in only 30.3 overs on the back of Mohammad Amir’s opening spell. Again the importance of the opening partnership was illustrated to England, for whom it was the Achilles heel:

Read: ICC Cricket Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan Beats England for Finals

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan beats India. Pakistan had slumped to eighth partly because they had gone 35 ODIs without a century opening stand, but once the left-handed Fakhar was paired with the steady Test opener Azhar Ali, they launched Pakistan with 118 against England, and 128 off only 23 overs against India.

Pakistan’s coach Mickey Arthur said:

“I’ve had five semi-finals with South Africa and never got to a final."

He added:

“I got to one final with Pakistan and eventually got a medal, so that’s fantastic, but the credit goes to the players.”

India’s captain Virat Kohli generously admitted:

“They [Pakistan] made us make those mistakes because of the way they were bowling and the way they applied the pressure in the field as well, and we have no hesitations or shame to admit that we could not play our best game today.”

Pakistan’s cricket is often hailed as mysterious and inexplicable instead of being the product of its environment, which it naturally is. Their aspiring cricketers pick up a bat and grip it as they like, without coaches telling them to use their leading elbow, and bowlers cannot extract bounce out of grass less pitches, like concrete, so they move it sideways instead: hence batsmen like Fakhar with his strong bottom hand.

 
As for inconsistency, or “unpredictability”, it stems from an infrastructure, which is not well-resourced by comparison with India’s, England’s and Australia’s: hence Pakistan could field like drains against India in the qualifier, and like a dream in the final.

The century by Fakhar, whose name means “pride”, was not the best innings played in a global one-day final because there was so much playing and missing and top-edging if the ball was short. It was, however, the most audacious and he had much of which to be proud. Fakhar, 27, dared to reach for the stars – never having played a one-day international before last month – and in his four innings in this Champions Trophy, he scored 30, 51, 57 against England, and his 114 made him man of the match.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said:

"He hoped his side’s stunning 180-run Champions Trophy final win over arch-rivals India would be a catalyst for the full return of international cricket to his homeland."

Sarfaraz added:

“I hope this win will boost Pakistan cricket and hopefully all the (major) playing nations will come to Pakistan.”

This Champions Trophy went ahead as scheduled despite a terror attack at a pop concert in Manchester, northern England, on May 22 that killed 22 people. And it continued even after another deadly attack at London Bridge, barely two miles from The Oval on June 3 in which eight people died.

But after the victims were remembered with a minute’s silence by a capacity crowd, fans at The Oval were soon engrossed by an extraordinary match.

Via: Mehran Post