Rain stops play.
(33.0) India 173/1: Hasan Ali keeps up things tight, just two runs.
(32.0) India 171/1: Eight runs of Mohammad Amir’s over with the courtesy of a boundary over point..
(31.0) India 163/1: Another good over for Pakistan with just one run
(30.0) India 162/1: Just a run conceded by Amir in this one.
(29.0) India 161/1: Kohli maturely knocks the over for singles.
(28.0) India 159/1: Kohli oozing with class as his late cut for four against Imad becomes the highlight of this over.
(26.0) India 141/1: India skipper Virat Kohli tries to settle in after arriving on the crease.
(25.0) India 138/1: Shadab’s strike gives Pakistan the much-needed boost of confidence.
(24.3) OUT! Shadab strikes for Pakistan! Dhawan gone after playing one right into the hands of Azhar Ali stationed on deep-midwicket boundary.
(22.0) India 125/0: Sarfraz introduces Shoaib Malik to use his experience and let Pakistan aquire more control.
(21.0) India 120/0: Dhawan hits Shadab for a huge one in this over.
(20.0) India 110/0: Pakistan seem to be in trouble as India openers reach 100-run partnership. Dhawan also reaches his half-century.
(19.0) India 95/0: Sharma smashes Shadab’s short-length ball out of the ground and reaches his 50.
(18.0) India 87/0: India are tightening their grip on the match as their opening pair approaches a 100-run partnership.
(17.0) India 84/0: Shadab Khan bowls his first over, conceding five runs.
(16.0) India 79/0: India change gears in this over and hit Wahab for two fours.
(15.0) India 66/0: A quiet over for the Indians.
(14.0) India 62/0: Wahab Riaz concedes three runs as he bowls his first over.
(13.0) India 59/0: Hasan Ali beats Sharma twice in the over with well-directed bouncers.
(12.0) India 55/0: A tidy over by Imad, three runs from it.
(11.0) India 52/0: The Indian openers seem like developing a solid partnership.
(10.5) FOUR! Sharma punishes Hasan Ali after the pacer bowls a big no-ball followed by a juicy half-volley which was hit down the ground.
(10.0) India 46/0: Imad delivers the last bowl of his over which was disturbed by rain.
The players are back on the field.
LATEST: Covers are being removed from the pitch as restart scheduled at 4 pm PST.
(9.5) India 46/0: Covers have been brought in as the match is delayed due to rain.
(8.4) FOUR: Hasan Ali, in his first over, bowls this one short outside off to Sharma, who exquisitely drives it through the offside for another boundary.
(8.0) India 32/0: Pakistan have managed to keep India rather quite and this can be called a good start of Sarfraz and co.
(7.0) India 27/0: Amir comes close to provide Pakistan with a breakthrough.
(6.1) FOUR: A rising delivery by Amir, not dealt very comfortably by Sharma who almost plays it into the hands of the slip fielder who misses it to let it hit the boundary.
(6.0) India 21/0: Imad loses his line a bit in his over as Indian batsmen capitalize.
(5.4) FOUR: Sharma pounces on a half-tracker by Imad and drives it through the covers for another boundary.
(5.0) India 15/0: India get their first boundary as they look forward to put up a big total.
(4.2) FOUR: Amir pitches it short and Sharma hooks it to help the ball go past the fine-leg boundary.
(4.0) India 9/0: The Indian openers take more time.
(3.0) India 5/0: Amir keeps Sharma as quiet as he did in his first over. However, the right-hander manages to feel some on his bat this time.
(2.0) India 3/0: Imad Wasim keeps the pressure on as Sarfraz, being innovative introduces a spinner in the second over.
(1.0) India 0/0: Amir getting decent movement in the air and off the pitch with the new ball. The left-armer starts off with a maiden as Rohit Sharma gets away with it.
TEAMS
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (wk.) (C), Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali
India: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, MS. Dhoni (wk.), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
TOSS
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has won the toss and opted to field first. The wicket-keeper batsman believes the pitch will not change much after the first innings and will keep assisting the batsmen till the end.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
Low moisture content and just 55 overs played on it in the last match, the Edgbaston track is predicted to be more friendly for the batsmen. The weather is clear too.
NOTHING TO LOSE
As Pakistan and India clash against each other for the first time in 27 months, the traditionally high-voltage encounter, this time round, is predicted not be as electrifying as it is known for being when it kicks off at The Edgbaston in Birmingham.
In the build-up to the encounter, India skipper Virat Kohli took most of it’s hype away by calling it ‘just another game’ while Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed tried to turn his back to the fans’ expectations from the Men in Green by saying they’ve ‘nothing to lose’.
However, considering how rarely the encounter occurs, the fans are going to make the most of it — and will hope England’s weather doesn’t spoil it, as it is forecasted to.
EXAM PRESSURE
For Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, this will be his first direct involvement in cricket’s blockbuster fixture.
However, he insisted Pakistan were “unbelievably calm” after more than a fortnight in Birmingham preparing.
“If you’ve crammed for an exam, you’re always on edge,” said Arthur, a former coach of both his native South Africa and Australia.
“You always show a lot of tension because you know you haven’t done the work.
“But if you prepared properly, you’ll be nervous but it will be an excited nervousness because you know you’re ready. There’s nothing more you could have done.”
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed certainly showed no sign of pre-match nerves as he recalled how his side had only just qualified for the Champions Trophy.
“We are number eight (in the world rankings), where else can we go?” said Sarfraz with a huge grin.
“For sure they (India) will be under pressure,” added the gifted wicket-keeper/batsman.
Arthur has tried to change Pakistan’s ‘old-fashioned’ approach to ODIs and has been heartened by the progress of their batsmen especially.
“In the last year we’ve scored the third-most amount of 300s,” he said. “I think that’s testimony to the brand of cricket that we are starting to play.”
Meanwhile, Arthur said an attack set to include the likes of left-arm paceman Mohammad Amir, had the variety to trouble India.
“We always say you pick an attack to take wickets,” he explained.
“We’ve got everything at our disposal tomorrow to allow Saf (Sarfraz) to pull the strings to make sure we can try to bowl India out, because that’s got to be priority number one.”
SOME NUMBERS THAT DEFINE THE GAME
The last time the two teams met in an ODI was two years ago at the ICC World Cup 2015.
It has been 27 months since that ODI; probably the longest wait ever for a Pakistan vs India ODI. Actually, since 2000, it is they second longest wait ever; after the 33 month wait between their Asia Cup match in Dhaka in June 2000 and the ICC World Cup match in March 2003.
PAKISTAN VS INDIA AT ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY
Pakistan are ahead here as well with a 2-1 record.
PAKISTAN VS INDIA IN ENGLAND
India are ahead here with a 2-1 record. In Birmingham, the record is 1-1.
PAKISTAN VS INDIA OUTSIDE THE SUBCONTINENT
Barring games played in the subcontinent and the UAE, the record is quite intriguing: 15-15.
PAKISTAN VS INDIA SINCE 2000
The popular belief is that Pakistan was dominant against India in the 80s and 90s (with all those games played in Sharjah); and that India has had the upper hand since the turn of the century.
Not quite true.
The record since year 2000 is 25-24 in Pakistan’s favor.
Over the last decade, however, India is leading 11-8.
