India clinch six-run win over Pakistan in T20 World Cup as bowlers shine in New York

Rohit Sharma's team defend 119 at Nassau County stadium

India's players celebrate victory over Pakistan in their T20 World Cup match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday, June 9, 2024. AP

Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi, right, consoles Naseem Shah after their six-run defeat in New York. AP

Jasprit Bumrah was the star performer for India, picking up three wickets. AP

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after dismissing Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan. AFP

Jasprit Bumrah picked up the prized wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam. AFP

Mohammad Amir celebrates after dismissing Ravindra Jadeja first ball. AFP

Pakistan's Naseem Shah, right, after rattling the stumps of India's Axar Patel. AP

Suryakumar Yadav failed with the bat on Sunday. AFP

Naseem Shah takes a return catch of Shivam Dube. AFP

India's Rishabh Pant, left, plays a shot during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo / Eduardo Munoz)

India's bowlers rose to the occasion as they sealed a six-run win over Pakistan in a T20 World Cup thriller in New York on Sunday.

Batting proved to be a nightmare at the Nassau County stadium once again. India collapsed to 119 all out after some disciplined bowling from Pakistan's pace bowlers.

In reply, Pakistan could only manage 113-7 as Jasprit Bumrah (3-14) ripped the heart out of Pakistan's batting, with good support from the rest of the attack.

It was smallest total India had defended successfully in T20s.

Babar Azam started the chase with good intent in the company of Mohammad Rizwan, knowing well that runs would be hard to come by after the powerplay overs.

Pakistan were 80-3 after 14 overs with a little over run a ball required. But just as India's batting had capitulated towards the end, Pakistan's too faltered.

Rizwan was holding the innings together on 31, having already received a life early when Shivam Dube dropped a sitter at fine leg.

But Bumrah got his revenge as he snuck through his defence to rattle the stumps. From there, India were all over Pakistan as they did not concede a single boundary from the 15th to the penultimate over.

Pakistan needed 18 from the final over and when Arshdeep Singh dismissed the set Imad Wasim first ball, the game was as good as over. Naseem Shah hit a couple of boundaries but it only reduced the margin of defeat.

While Bumrah was named the player of the match, all-rounder Hardik Pandya too played a crucial hand, picking up the dangerous Fakhar Zaman with a perfect bouncer and finishing with 2-24. Mohammad Siraj gave away just 19 runs in his four overs.

India captain Rohit Sharma lauded his bowlers for rescuing the match after their batting failure.

"We didn't bat well enough. I thought halfway through, after 10 overs, we were in a good position, you expect guys to stitch partnerships," Sharma said. "We were 15-20 runs short. We were looking at 140, but nevertheless the bowlers did the job."

Earlier, there were a couple of false starts at the beginning of the day as rain delayed the game by well over an hour. But no overs were lost as tournament regulations account for such delays.

Shah and Haris Rauf claimed three wickets each as India were dismissed with a full over remaining of their allotted 20 in front a packed stadium with 34,000 fans.

Rishabh Pant's 42 from 31 balls gave the Indians some sort of total to defend on what was another tricky surface at the New York venue after they lost openers Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply.

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

But after just one over, the rain returned. When play resumed following a 36-minute delay, Pakistan got the start they wanted.

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

Sharma 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.

A challenging surface and consistent bowling made runs hard to come by. But India were still looking in decent shape when Shivam Dube went in the 14th over leaving his team on 95-5.

But only 19 more runs were added for the last five wickets. India lost their final wicket to a run out when a misunderstanding left Arshdeep stranded.

India have now won both their games while Pakistan are staring down the barrel following their second defeat. The team in green had lost their opening match to co-hosts USA in a Super Over and the two close defeats will haunt them for some time.