IND vs PAK: Jasprit Bumrah and Co script history as India defend their lowest-ever total in T20Is

Team India batters produced a dismal show in the highly anticipated T20 World Cup clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, but the bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, pulled them back to register a sensational win on Sunday.

Bumrah brought his A-game to the table, picked a three-fer and gave just 14 runs in his four overs. He also got great support from the other bowlers and kept things from the other end. Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets each.

Pakistan needed 18 runs from the last over but Arshdeep held his nerves and India won the crucial match by 6 runs.

It was the lowest total India ever defended in a T20I match.

Lowest targets successfully defended by India in T20I

120 vs Pakistan in New York 2024 *

139 vs Zimbabwe in Harare 2016

145 vs England in Nagpur 2017

147 vs Bangladesh in Bengaluru 2016

Meanwhile, Pakistan failed to chase down their second lowest-ever target in the shortest format of the game.

Lowest targets successfully defended vs Pakistan in T20Is

119 by Zimbabwe in Harare 2021

120 by India in New York 2024 *

128 by Australia in Melbourne 2010

130 by England in Abu Dhabi 2012

131 by Zimbabwe in Perth 2022

The Indian cricket team also equalled the record of Sri Lanka to defend the lowest score in T20 World Cup history.

Lowest targets successfully defended in T20 WCs

120 SL vs NZ Chattogram 2014

120 Ind vs Pak New York 2024 *

124 Afg vs WI Nagpur 2016

127 NZ vs Ind Nagpur 2016

129 SA vs Eng Lord's 2009

Earlier, the star-studded Indian batting line-up struggled miserably on a tricky track and were bundled out for just 119. It was a tricky pitch to bat on but the Indian batters also played some really poor shots to throw their wickets away at regular intervals which led to their downfall.

IND vs PAK T20 World Cup Highlights

The match was affected by rain as the play was stopped after the first over when India was 8/0. After a short break, Virat Kohli opened his account with a classic cover drive but in the same over he failed to check his shot at the last moment and was dismissed by Naseem Shah in an attempt to play it over point.

Meanwhile, skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed in the next over by Shaheen Afridi as he skied the ball in the air at square leg and got caught.

Rishabh Pant (42) and floater Axar Patel (20) tried to rebuild the innings but a poor shot-selection by the latter put India on the backfoot.

The middle-order crumbled under pressure as the number 1 ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav had another flop outing against Pakistan and was dismissed for just 7. The wickets kept falling, with Shivam Dube (3), Hardik Pandya (7) and Ravindra Jadeja (0) failing to put up any fight as India were bowled out with an over to spare.

It was India's lowest T20I score against Pakistan in T20Is.

India's lowest T20I totals against Pakistan

119 - IND v PAK, New York 2024 - Result: Won

133/9 - IND v PAK, Bengaluru 2012 - Result: Lost

141/9 - IND v PAK, Durban 2008 - Result: Tied 

148/5 - IND v PAK, Dubai 2022 - Result: Won

151/7 - IND v PAK, Dubai 2021 - Result: Lost

Meanwhile, Kohli, who has been India's standout player in the India vs Pakistan matches in the last decade, had a rare failure against them.

The Indian batting maestro registered his first single-digit score against Pakistan in T20 World Cup - 4.