(Dhananjaya Senaratne from Dubai)
India showcased their sheer dominance in One Day Cricket as they beat Pakistan by six wickets in the Champions Trophy match played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium today. Chasing a modest- target of 242 runs, Indian batters finished the job with 45 balls remaining, scoring 244 for four.
India beat Pakistan for the sixth consecutive time in seven outing on One Day Cricket. Pakistan’s last ODI win against India was the 2017 champions Trophy finals played at London Oval.
Virat Kohli stroked a magnificent unbeaten 100 off 111 balls, with seven hits to the rope. It was his 51st ODI century, in 299 matches and he also went pass the 14,000 runs mark in ODI cricket. Only Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) and Sachin Tendulkar (18,246) has more ODI runs than the Indian icon. Virat is the fastest to get 14,000 ODI runs in 285 innings.
Virat had no mercy on Pakistani bowlers as he cut, drove, pulled and flicked with supreme authority. His ODI century came after 14 months. 
Today was a busy day for the former Indian skipper. Virat held 158th catch in ODI cricket and became the most successful Indian fielder in ODI cricket. The previous record was held by Mohammed Azharuddin with 156 catches. However, Ricky Ponting (160) and Mahela Jayawardane (218) are ahead of Virat in taking catches on the field.
The “Hit Man” Rohith Sharma treated the Pakistani bowlers in disdain. In his 15 ball knock, Rohit hit three boundaries and a scintillating six over deep square leg, but soon bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Yet, India had no troubles as Virat Kohli at number 3 and Shreyas Iyer following with a rapid 56.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat but wasted their luck. A needless run out in the 10th over put them at the back seat. A useless partnership of 104 runs also contributed to their defeat. To make matters worse, Pakistan lost their last eight wickets for 83 runs and bundled out before the finish of the 50th over.
As Indians took the field, Mohammed Shami started off with an 11 ball over, conceding five wide balls. The two Pakistani openers, Baber Azam and Imam Ul Haq put the score to 25 by the fifth over before Baber playing a rash shot and giving a simple catch to KL Rahul. Imam’s run out put them under lot of pressure. The left handed opener ran as fast as he could but Axar Patel’s direct hit to the bowlers end was quicker than Imam.
The third wicket partnership was too slow than expected. They score mere 77 runs from the 10th over to the 30th, with a run rate of 3.85. There was no single boundary for 88 balls.
As they accelerated after the 30th over, Mohammed Rizwan lost his wicket for 46 and that started the collapse of 8 wickets for 83 runs.
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