Hardik, Bhuvneshwar restrict Pakistan to 147 in high-voltage encounter

India's short-ball ploy caught Pakistan by surprise as they failed to score a substantial total in the first innings against arch rivals India in the first Group B encounter. Hardik Pandya was at his glorious best with the ball, so was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pandya returned a brilliant three for 25 in his four overs. He got good support from his fellow paceman - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh - and restricted Pakistan to 147.

Mohammad Rizwan (42 off 41) was the top-scorer for Pakistan but his strike-rate was on the lower side, hurting the side's chances. Skipper Babar (10) and Fakhar Zaman (10) couldn't live up to the expectations and both of them fell victim to short balls. In fact, India got as many as five wickets off short balls. 

Iftikhar Ahmed (28 off 22) tried through the middle overs to up the ante but was undone by a superb catch behind the stumps by Dinesh Karthik. 

Bhuvneshwar, who dismissed Babar Azam, finished with excellent figures of four for 24.

Haris Rauf and Shahnawaz Dahani smashed a few lusty blows towards the end to stretch the total to 147. Pakistan scored 33 off their final three.