Bumrah delivers as India beat Pakistan in low-scoring thriller

Jasprit Bumrah was the hero as India beat Pakistan by six runs in a low-scoring T20 World Cup thriller in New York on Sunday.

India were bowled out by Pakistan for 119 in 19 overs but while Mohammad Rizwan made 31 for Pakistan, in a well-paced innings, Bumrah delivered crucial wickets and his 3-14 in four overs proved decisive as Pakistan fell just short ending on 113-7.

Despite a tricky surface that made batting difficult, a crowd of 34,028, a record attendance for an international cricket match in the USA, were given a tight contest that ebbed and flowed.

Pakistan needed exactly a run a ball and they approached their innings accordingly — they engineered themselves into a position where they needed 40 to win off the last six overs but then were unable to deliver in the face of Bumrah’s brilliance.

“Bumrah is going from strength to strength. I’m not going to talk too much about him, we want him to be in that kind of mindset till the end of this World Cup, he’s a genius with the ball,” said India captain Rohit Sharma, who praised his team’s fans, who had travelled from far and wide to back them.

“The crowd was superb, they never disappoint, wherever we play in the world, they come out in huge numbers and support us. They’ll be going home with a big smile on their face as well. Just the start of the tournament, we have a long way to go,” he said.

Bumrah had picked up the vital wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam (13) early and then the breakthrough dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan (31) in the 15th over when Pakistan were 80-4.

Then, handed the ball for the penultimate over, with Pakistan needing 21 to win, Bumrah conceded just three runs and removed Iftikhar Ahmed with his final delivery.

That left Pakistan needing 18 from the final over, a steep task on a difficult batting surface and it got more tricky when Arshdeep Singh trapped Imad Wasim lbw with the first ball.

Naseem Shah made a valiant effort, hitting the fourth and fifth balls of the over for fours but India avoided any late drama to secure their second win of the tournament.

For Pakistan, their loss, coming after the shock defeat to the USA, leaves them without a point and with a lot of work to do against Canada and Ireland if they are to fight their way into the Super Eight stage.

“We’ve still got a chance in the tournament, we get two wins, we’ve still got a chance to go through, so we’re still hopeful that things can play in our hands, obviously we’ve got to play a lot better cricket than what we are playing,” said Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten.

“We had that game for 35 of the 40 overs, we played good cricket, we did everything that we needed to, so it’s a disappointing loss,” he added.

Earlier, Pakistan’s bowlers had given their team a fighting chance with Naseem and Haris Rauf claiming three wickets each as India were dismissed with a full over remaining of their alloted 20.

But Rishabh Pant’s 42 from 31 balls gave the Indians something to work with after they lost openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply following a rain-delayed start.

Pakistan captain Babar won the toss and opted to bowl and their was a huge roar when Rohit clipped Shaheen Shah Afridi’s third ball of the day over mid-wicket for six.

But after just one over, the rain returned forcing a 36-minute delay and when play resumed Pakistan’s attack got the start they had dreamt of.

Naseem Shah removed Kohli with the the third ball back, the Indian opener reaching at a wide delivery and finding Usman Khan at point.

Rohit tried to put Afridi off the midwicket boundary again but this time he was caught by Rauf in the deep to leave India at 19-2 with both star openers gone.

But only 24 runs were added for the last five wickets and India lost their final wicket to a run out with six balls remaining.

That could have proved costly but Bumrah delivered when it mattered for a big win for the tournament favourites.

Scotland cruise to seven-wicket victory over Oman at T20 World Cup

Scotland boosted their chances of qualifying for the second round of the T20 Cricket World Cup on Sunday after thrashing Oman by seven wickets in Antigua to move to the top of Group B.

Brandon McMullen’s unbeaten 61 off just 31 balls steered Scotland to victory with nearly seven overs to spare as the Scots finished on 153-3 off 13.1 overs to reel in Oman’s total of 150-7.

“Very chuffed to get the win for the team,” said McMullen, who clinched the win with a four — one of nine boundaries in his swashbuckling batting display that also included two sixes.

“The priority was to win and get the points but at drinks we said we should get this done.”

McMullen and Scotland face Australia in their final group game but are brimming with confidence after an impressive start to the tournament.

“We are confident going into the Australia game, always trying to raise the bar. That’s the plan going forward,” McMullen said.

Scotland’s run chase had got off to a smooth start, with George Munsey making 41 before being caught by Shakeel Ahmed off Mehran Khan, and Michael Jones adding 16.

McMullen then took charge of the game, finishing alongside Matthew Cross, who was 15 not out from an eight-ball knock that included two monstrous sixes.

Oman captain Aqib Ilyas meanwhile lamented his team’s failure to build a more competitive total, and missed chances in the Scotland innings, after winning the toss and opting to bat at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound.

“175 could have been a good score, but we had too many dot balls on a flat track,” Aqib said. “In the batting we have to improve. 150 was par but we dropped too many chances.

“Catches, if you take them, puts pressure on the other team. This is cricket, sometimes you are at the top, sometimes you are down.”

Aqib’s decision to bat first appeared to have paid off with opener Pratik Athavale hitting 54 off 40 balls to get the innings going, with Naseem Khushi adding 10 and Aqib Ilyas 16.

But Zeeshan Maqsood fell cheaply for three runs before Khalid Kail was run out 10 runs later to leave the Omanis wobbling at 71-4 after 8.5 overs.

Ayaan Khan steadied the ship with an unbeaten 41 off 39 deliveries with support from Mehran Khan, who added 13.

Safyaan Sharif was the only Scottish bowler with multiple wickets, but the seamer’s brace came for an expensive 40 runs.

Brad Wheal bowled an economical spell of 1-19 off four overs while spinner Mark Watt’s four overs went for 25 runs with one wicket.