T20 World Cup Live Report - India vs Pakistan at the MCG

So this was the story of the last two (legal) balls

So, all the white ball needed to swing again was a freak weather event. La Nina first threatened to wash out the India vs Pakistan game altogether. But instead it created a thrilling atmosphere for the biggest event on the cricket calendar.

All the rain leading into the game juiced up this pitch into something unreal. There was scary swing early. There was stunning bounce throughout. And the pace that Haris Rauf summoned made hair stand on end.

This was a night where the fun never stopped, where the jeopardy wouldn't fade, and where a winner wouldn't emerge until deep in the game, by which time more than 90,000 people at the MCG, and millions more watching from home, had been spoiled rotten.

And at the end of it all, the world knew one clear truth. VIRAT KOHLI IS STRAIGHT FIRE.

The full report is up for grabs on the site.

A free hit ball hits the stumps and India take three.

Pakistan aren't happy again. They think it should be dead. They think it should cost them any runs

But the umpires get together again and finally they give the runs. They're byes. India need 2 off 2. Kohli is at the non-strikers

AND KARTHIK'S GONE! HE'S STUMPED.

INDIA NEED TWO OFF ONE AND KOHLI IS STUCK AT THE NONSTRIKERS!

Hardik gone first ball of the 20th over.

Next man in Dinesh Karthik is possibly India’s best batter in the death phase, and here are his numbers against slow left-arm orthodox: 90 runs at 176.47, 22.5 average.

But forget him for a moment because this is still about Kohli. The equation goes down to 13 off 3.

And that's when Kohli heaves a full toss over deep square leg and immediately asks for a no-ball.

The balls clears the rope first, before the decision is made, and finally the no-ball is called.

That incenses Pakistan. Babar comes in and has an animated chat with the umpires. But to no avail.

Now its only 5 off 3

THE MCG HAS GONE MAD!

KOHLI IS PLAYING LIKE... KOHLI AGAIN!

HE WATCHES THE LAST BALL SAIL OVER THE ROPE AND THEN SCREEEEAMMS OUT. HE PUNCHES THE AIR. HE'S ONE WITH THE CROWD. HE'S JUST UNREAL

You'll notice that the first part of that over fetched no runs.

Thats Hardik trying to slog. Slog at a ground with MASSIVE square boundaries.

Then Kohli comes on strike and even though a back of a length ball, up over his waist, comes at him. He hits dead straight because that's the shorter boundary. And he gets six!

Next ball, he goes for the scoop, because again that's the shorter boundary.

India need 16 off left-arm spinner Nawaz's six balls

He's turned a would be leg stump yorker into a four through cover.

Afridi misses his length by just a touch. It becomes a full toss outside leg.

Kohli moves away to the leg side, keeps his shape, opens the face of the bat and beats three fielders to hit the boundary over extra cover

Once the ball hits the advertising hoardings, he punches the air.

On the back of India scoring 55 runs in the last five overs, Pakistan turn to Haris Rauf in the 16th and he delivers this piece of magic

Hardik beaten for pace once, lack of pace once, and Kohli producing a leading edge. They were belting the bowling just a second ago. India need 54 off 24

India made Pakistan bring back their best bet.

Problem is, their best bet hasn't played any cricket since July.

Shaheen Afridi has looked a little rusty tonight.

Even so he ends the over with a rip-roaring yorker. Hardik only just digs it out.

Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya are a good pair for India to have at the middle right now.

They are behind in this game. A wicket at any moment now - even deep in the chase - will turn this situation from scary to untenable.

In these situations, batters need a clear mind, and immense self belief. They're essentially swimming against the tide. It's hard. it's draining. It's difficult.

But these two have done it. Kohli has done it against Pakistan in an Asia Cup and a World Cup.

Hardik has done in in a World Cup, albeit against a different opposition, with ball in hand.

Those are just details. The thing is, these guys know how to handle pressure.

Shiva JAYARAMAN: i reckon they've got enough
Nagraj Gollapudi i mean the hard lengths and this tournameent
Shiva JAYARAMAN: no?
Nagraj Gollapudi: yes, if rohit and kl are. goone, then fun will come
Shiva JAYARAMAN: Most of the Indians are compulsive pullers
Nagraj Gollapudi: but it is Afridi's first two overs that will be key
Shiva JAYARAMAN: too much pace on this pitch
Nagraj Gollapudi: love it
Shiva JAYARAMAN: even otherwise...Rauf and Shah are too quick for Indians to pull on this ground. Let's see if they can keep their pulls down
Nagraj Gollapudi: but Sky kind of guys plays upper cuts so Pakistan will need to be accurate
Shiva JAYARAMAN: true..upper cut will use the speed of the ball..interesting play ahead :slightly_smiling_face:
*Surya get out to the upper cut*
Shiva JAYARAMAN: nice double jinx :slightly_smiling_face: upper-cut and the stat

Haris Rauf is pure fast bowler.

He may well be the last one out there.

Unsullied by slower balls. Unburdened by the need to think about anything but the speed gun.

The wicketkeeper is standing on the 30 yard circle as he runs in at India.

Surya cracks him over midwicket for a four. The kind of shot that is like a slap in the face.

But Haris runs in again. He steams in. He will not back down. He will not stop.

It's another short ball. It cramps Surya. The batter tries to dab it over the slips. It's a very 360 player response to a ball that isn't giving a whole lot to work with.

Surya's nailed these shots before. He's awesome at pulling boundaries out of the hat. He's a magician to whom basic physics don't always apply.

But Rauf is too quick. And this MCG pitch has too much bounce.

As a result, Surya only gets a nick through to the keeper

Pakistan were 32 for 2 in their powerplay. INDIA ARE 31 FOR 4!

Caught at first slip off a 145 kph Haris Rauf delivery.

Good catch from Iftikhar diving low to his right.

Rohit, just like Rahul, was very tentative. He hasn't been like that for a long time. He's been leading an Indian batting revolution, where he's asked all of his players to go out and whack the ball.

JUST LIKE SURYAKUMAR DOES FIRST BALL!

He does this so often. Walks in and immediately hits a boundary. This is cricket in fast forward.

That front foot...

Just the way it lunges at the ball...

Even in this game...

Even against these guys...

Virat Kohli isn't a man. He is a feeling. It's why every time he walks out to bat, he lifts the entire world with him. Or at the very least 1 billion of its people

The ball isn't moving as much as it did in the first innings. But there is a slight bit out there. Pakistan are trying to milk it for all its worth.

Afridi goes around the wicket so that the angle in will trick the batter to play down the wrong line; to get done in by the movement away.

It's the other kid!

It's Naseem Shah!

And he doesn't even celebrate. He just runs up to his team-mate and almost goes, see, I told you I could do this.

KL Rahul is gone. He looked tentative all through, which is entirely understandable. He is facing a high class attack on a new-ball pitch. He needed to play it safe, but his trigger movement was locking him up. The front leg going across, closing him off from playing his shorts.

Here, as he tries to defend, the good length ball on and around off stump bounces off the inside edge and onto the stumps. He walks away with a shrug of the shoulders, as if saying, come on, I was being so careful and still this?!

Already a few changes from last time out.

Rohit took strike against Shaheen in Dubai last year. It was Rahul this time, and he was extremely conscious of the swing back into him

Rohit, meanwhile, has opened up his stance to make sure there is nothing impeding the flow of a straight bat down against Afridi and heady concoction of swing and pace.

Both batters keeping a low back lift.

Since the start of 2019, Pakistan have won 3 and lost 10 defending 160 and less.

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Pakistan showing signs of life, and it's Shaheen Afridi, with the bat this time.

At the other end, Shan Masood has brought up his fifty too.

India feeling the pressure now. Arshdeep going length to get hit over the big boundary square of the wicket. Bhuvneshwar starting the final over with an off side wide.

Alex Malcolm who is a the ground right now: No one was quite sure how this MCG pitch would play given it is so early in the Australian season. After the ball nipped and swung early and India had success pitching up, things have reverted to the more common style of MCG T20 play.

Anything pitched up too full has disappeared given the boundaries are very short straight. The big boundaries are square and are your friend as a bowler as Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey explained. India have wisely combined their two spinners as their fifth bowler with only four overs between them given how Iftikhar attacked so successfully.

The quicks, including Hardik, have all dragged their lengths back to the traditional MCG plan of back of a length and short and forced Pakistan to hit square to the long boundaries with amazing success. Through 17 overs India had bowled 42 back of a length and short balls and taken 5 for 34, conceding only four boundaries.

You know those memes where something is broken out in parts, the good part looking awesome, and the bad part looking so bad.

Well this is that meme in cricket form.

Pakistan 32 for 2 in the first six. 59 for 0 in the next six. And 34 for 5 in the next five.

Arshdeep has a third wicket, Asif Ali caught trying to duck a short ball that doesn't get up as high as he feared.

Spin appears to be the only clear route for quick runs for Pakistan, so they're going at everything.

Shan Masood charges out to slog at Ashwin. Gets a thick leading edge. It goes miles in the air. Hardik Pandya at cover and Virat Kohli running in from deep point are preparing to catch it. But it hits spider cam and boings into no-man's land.

Rohit is angry. He thinks that should've been another wicket. Immediately goes up to umpire Tucker and has a not so quiet word.

And Shadab Khan.

He walks in at the fall of the only man keeping his team afloat.

And Mohammed Shami punched him out KO. A full ball that Iftikhar just did not see coming. Caught on the back foot. Plumb lbw.

India needed that wicket, but in comes Shadab, one of the most electric players in the world, and nails a straight drive for four off the second ball he faces.

No time for pleasantries like getting your eye in. Shadab is T20. Shadab is baller.

EDIT: Umm... Shadab is gone.

Pakistan 32 for 2 in the first six. 59 for 0 in the next six. And 7 for 3 in the next two. And Shan Masood hasn't faced a ball since 10.1

Pakistan are on the way back up. Four sixes off six balls between the 11th and 12th overs. And Iftikhar Ahmed has fifty!

The early panic has settled, and a belief is pulsing through them. After all, they have a bowling attack that is pretty capable too.

And if there's still any swing out there, Shaheen Shah Afridi will definitely find it.

A second tough catch goes down, with Iftikhar whacking Ashwin to short cover, where Rohit Sharma leaps to his right, gets one hand but that's all he can do.

Moments later, the same batter launches a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE straight six. The first of four in six balls.

Pakistan 91 for 2 in 12 overs. Or in other words, 59 for 0 in the last six

Shami has stepped into the Bumrah role and is being India's enforcer. He is better known for his ability to generate seam movement. At least with the white ball. He (reverse)swings the red one.

Here, India made a big call to give Arshdeep the new ball. And it paid off. So Shami has to adjust. And his spell so far has been all about hitting the pitch hard. Which is fair because there's not as much movement out there.

Shami almost produces a wicket this way, having Shan Masood hooking a bouncer to long leg, where R Ashwin doesn't come in quickly enough to complete the catch. The ball bounces inches in front of him before he wraps his hands around it.

Pakistan end the powerplay on 32 for 2. They were not in control of 22 of those 36 deliveries.

For Arshdeep that number is eight out of 12. Including now TWO WICKETS. He took out Babar with a peach of an inswinger. And now he does Rizwan with a red hot bouncer.

The left-armer's bouncer to a right-hander is a horrible, menacing, beautiful thing. Because when the ball is up there, it is instinct to play the pull shot.

But for a right-hander, that means you're working against the angle. And Arshdeep makes it even harder by getting the ball up above the shoulder, and close to Rizwan's ear. So no room to free the arms. Results in a top edge to long leg.

Pakistan have only been in control of six of the first 24 balls they faced in this match. They're 15 for 2.

The early wicket.

All the playing and missing.

It's making Pakistan panic.

Shan Masood goes for a single that is never on.

Especially given the ball goes to Virat Kohli at mid-off

Kohli swoops in on the ball. He already has it in his hand and Masood is only half way down the pitch. He's gone. If it hits he's gone.

Kohli takes aim. Goes underarm...

And misses!

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH, goes the MCG with a majority of the 100,000 with their hands on heads

Arshdeep Singh gets a wicket with his first ball in a T20 World Cup! And it's Babar Azam lbw! The MCG explodes with noise.

And it keeps getting louder as DRS is called in to adjudicate.

Late swing again. Ooh, these left-arm bowlers. Shaheen Afridi did the dirty in 2021. India repaying the favour now.

Last month, at the Asia Cup, Arshdeep dropped a catch in the latter stages of a game. And he was pilloried for it. Nobody does effigies anymore but everybody has a keyboard and they turned that on a 23-year old boy who has only ever wanted to do well for his team.

Now look at that boy. He's on top of the world!

Alex Malcolm, who works for ESPNcricinfo in Australia, says: I was at the MCG when Shane Warne took his 700th Test wicket. The roar when Marais Erasmus just raised his finger was louder than that.

There's swing. Five going away from the right-hander. Two curling into him, late and at pace. One wide enabled this magic to happen.

There's bounce too. Mohammad Rizwan needed to stop play and get some treatment after getting rapped on his right thumb.

This is what Bhuvneshwar Kumar does better than a lot of people. He makes that white ball spit fire.

India have gone in with all the big guns they have for this big game, and perhaps because of that choice, Harshal Patel, on whom they have invested a lot, and who is growing into his own as a player who revels in a role that doesn't come easy to anybody has to sit out. Death bowling is tough!

So Mohammed Shami steps in. He is playing his 18th T20I today, half of them have come in World Cups, which says exactly how highly India rate his mettle. He and Bhuvneshwar Kumar make for one heck of a new-ball attack.

R Ashwin may get a look in during the powerplay too. In T20Is this year, Babar Azam (strike rate 114.28) and Mohammad Rizwan (112.32) haven't scored particularly quickly against offspin, and the two openers often bat through a significant chunk of Pakistan's innings. Babar has also been dismissed four times by offspinners in 35 balls.

But when it comes to overs 16 to 20, without Jasprit Bumrah, they look light. Arshdeep Singh will bowl two. And Bhuvneshwar, who's recently struggled in this role, may have to bowl the other two. Pakistan's batting goes down to No. 8 where Asif Ali is a proper big-hitter. There's plenty here for a high-scoring game to break out

Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Rizwan, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Shan Masood, 4 Shadab Khan, 5 Haider Ali, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Asif Ali, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Haris Rauf.

India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep Singh.

Almost 100,000 people scream as the coin goes up, and it gets louder as news travels. The coin falls in India's favour and Rohit Sharma is happy to chase a target. "It's a great feeling. We were expecting this. We were expecting nothing less than this."

Babar says he would also have wanted to bowl, which goes with the way T20 is played these days. The thing though is in Australia batting first isn't the worst thing in the world. In fact, over the last 25 T20s played at the MCG, 14 have been won by the side batting first.

Danyal Rasool interviews Shadab Khan
Rohit Sharma on how India went the extra mile to prepare for this World Cup
Babar Azam lays his trust in Pakistan's hot-and-cold middle-order
And last but not least, Amit Mishra's epic tweet

If any of you collect player cards, autographed bats or other memorabilia from cricket games, you may be interested in their digital versions. This World Cup, the cricket world is meeting the world of digital collectibles. ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectibles partners FanCraze are allowing fans to pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. We’ll also have a weekly video series here on ESPNcricinfo with our experts picking our favourite moments of the week.

For the fantasy players and gamers among you, you may want to check out a game from our digital collectibles partners Fan Craze - the FanCraze Flash Nets game, where you use digital collectibles to play and earn rewards.

A lot of this match will be billed as India's batting against Pakistan's bowling because...

India have the highest run-rate in the powerplay (8.63) and at the death (11.50) in T20I cricket since the 2021 World Cup. Second-best in the middle overs (9.01 behind South Africa's 9.32)

Pakistan are at 7.07 in the powerplay (better only than Sri Lanka, UAE and Namibia out of the teams at this tournament), 7.89 in the middle overs (6th) and 10.30 in the death (5th)

Some of Pakistan's batting numbers up there are a function of their bowling; of the way they can reduce oppositions to dust which then allows them to coast through the chase at little over run a ball.

The bestest news is that Melbourne is back to looking gorgeous. #Clearblueskies. Perfect weather for falcons.

The guy moves the ball late, both ways and at high pace. Honestly, he's like a jacked-up math equation. People keep trying to solve for X but they just get knocked out instead