The big match for which each of us were waiting is finally here, yes it’s time for India Vs Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2016. Stay tuned as we bring you live score, analysis and reaction of the match right here.

Rain once again threthen to play spoilsport as It rained heavily in Kolkata, Though rain has stopped now & groundsmen are doing there best to prepare the ground ASAP.

Mean while as we wait for the match to start a felicitation ceremony is being held at Eden gardens where former pakistani & Indian greats are being felicitated

The match will begin at 8.30 and the match has been reduced to 18 overs each

MSD has won the Toss and has put Pakistan to bat First in this fixture

Here’s what the captains said at the toss

MS Dhoni

We will bowl first. The wicket has been under the covers for quite some time, so it might be a bit sticky. We are playing with the same side. Past doesn’t really matter, but as far as cricket is concerned, you have to be at your best on that particular day. The guys have played enough fast bowlers all around the world. They have some world-class bowlers

Shahid Afridi

It’s a good call to bowl first, because the pitch was covered, but now we have to put a decent total on the board. Maybe there is something for the bowlers if you bowl in the right areas. Shehzad and Hafeez are is good form and hopefully they can continue. It’s always great to play in India and cricket is like a religion here. We are excited to play this game.

And here’s the team line up

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan (Playing XI): Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Shahid Afridi(c), Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan.

Here’s what Man of the match Kohli had to say

It was a challenging wicket out there. You need new challenges every innings that you play. I was disappointed that I got out for about 25 in the last game. I knew if I had scored 40-45 we could have won. That really hurt because we don’t bat like that at home. Today it was all about keeping calm and luckily I got a great partnership with Yuvraj. 49 odd I scored in Dhaka against Pakistan was probably one of my better knocks. I think the seamers bowling cutters was a little difficult. You need to watch the ball to play it late to dab it down to third man. Yuvraj came out, weathered the storm and smacked a few. It’s great for him that he came out in a pressure situation. He’s feeling confident. I think a score on the board always helps me calculate better

And Here’s what both the Captain had to say

Afridi

“First of all, I want to congratulate Dhoni and his team for playing well. I did not expect the pitch to spin so much, but no excuse. I think we didn’t score enough runs. We were short by 30-35 runs. Their spinners bowled well. I think we didn’t bowl in the right areas and I didn’t bowl well. Virat Kohli played an awesome innings. I would have picked another spinner for this pitch. We are playing Australia and New Zealand next, so we’ve got to play very well. This game is done, we need to quickly focus on the next game.”

Dhoni

I didn’t expect it to spin so much. The spinners got plenty of help out there. It got slightly better in the second half and they had only one spinner. I think we can still do better (playing against spin). There are areas where we can still improve. It is important that you when you win games you address all those areas. You won’t get a second chance in the knockout stages. The third seamer can give you a bit of help if there is dew around, but if I knew that there was so much turn on offer, then I don’t have a problem playing an extra spinner. In this format every team is a good team. We want to compete. We want to be here for the final, but as of now we want to take one game at a time

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/ImRamya_/status/711249575055532032

So India won the match by 6 wickets with 13 balls to spare, a comfortable victory in the end. India survived a early hiccups to register the win thanks largely to Virat Kohli who was supported ably by Yuvraj Singh.

 

 

 

Wicket – Raina Bowled by Sami, Sami is on hatrick now. India in deep deep trouble a lot will rely on the new pair of kohli & Yuvraj

 

Wicket – Dhawan is bowled by sami. India in deep trouble now.

 

 

Wicket – India lost their 1st wicket this is just what India needed to avoid, Rohit sharma has been dismissed , he   wanted to go over mid-off, skies it and Malik takes a real good catch. Dismissed for 10(11)

 

 

So finally the First Innings has come to conclusion, Pakistan have finished for 118/5 in their 18 overs. This is a challenging total but definitely chase able. Pakistan were able to put a decent score largely due to the partnership between Akmal & Malik.

Indian batsmen needs to keep their cool & play sensible cricket & they wouldn’t have much problem, a opening partnership would be crucial here.

 

https://twitter.com/iLazyLad/status/711226714270015490

 

 

 

 

 

Wicket – India get’s the much needed breakthrough, Umar Akmal dismissed just when he was threatening to take this match away from India.! Quick and flat outside off, Akmal went for the cut and feathered an edge. MS is good and immediately throws the ball up in celebration.

 

After 15 overs Pakistan are 95/3. Both the batsmen are attacking now and India needs to get a breakthrough otherwise pakistan can run away to a huge score here. Last 4 overs have produced 41 runs.

 

 

Wicket – India get their 3rd wicket, Afridi dismissed for 8(14), He was struggling on this Pitch from the start.Pandya gets his 1st wicket

https://twitter.com/BrokenCricket/status/711217261038538752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

 

 

 

Wicket – Shezad has been dismissed as Pakistan lose their second wicket, Bumrah has a got this wicket, Shehzad goes for the ugly slog, outside edge and Jadeja trotts back and completes the catch at backward point.

https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/711214867613683712

 

Wicket – Pakistan lost their 1st wicket , Raina picks up the wicket Sharjeel Khan dismissed for 16(24), Much needed wicket for India