Pakistan beat India by 180 runs, lift Champions Trophy

Pakistan posted 338 runs for the loss of four wickets in 50 overs and then went ahead to bowl out the neighbours for 158 runs in 3. 3 overs.

After bowlers put up a poor performance on the park in the first half, Indian batsmen completely surrendered in the match which was dominated by Pakistan.

It was only

Hardik Pandya, smashing four boundaries and six over boundaries, tried to reduce the gap between the twp teams with his 43-ball heroic 76 runs knock.

But Hardik was late as by then the top order was already back to pavilion.

Yuvraj Singh remained the second top scorer for the former champions with his 22.
Shikhar Dhawan added 21 runs.

Pakistan bowlers bowled with purpose and strength and it was specially Mohammad Amir (3-16), Junaid Khan (1-20) and Hasan Ali (3-19) who destroyed the fame batting lineup.

Amir gave Pakistan the first breakthrough as he dismissed opener Rohit Sharma (0) early.

VIrat Kohli (5) departed soon and Amir reduced India to 2-6.

India never recovered from the situation and things kept turning gloomy for them with MS Dhoni (4) and  Kedar Jadhav (5) failing to contribute with their willows.

Despite coming from behind and remaining underdog, Pakistan made a significant turnaround since being defeated in their opening group stage match against India and moved to the final of the tournament by beating England in the semis.

In final, it seemed mostly that India might dominate the game and defended their title.

But proving everyone wrong, Pakistan completely shattered India's hopes to win the title.

Earlier, Riding on Fakhar Zaman's 114 runs, Pakistan posted massive 338 runs for the loss of four wickets in the high-voltage final of the Champions Trophy against arch-rivals India here on Sunday.

Zaman, who was selected Man of Match, was lucky on Sunday when he got new life after Jasprit Bumrah bowled a no-ball even as the Pakistani opener was caught behind by Dhoni.

Zaman was batting at 3 at that point.

However, the Pakistani opener did not waste the chance and scored 114 runs in his 106-ball knock. He hammered 12 boundaries and three sixes in his mighty and memorable knock at the big platform.

Zaman and Azhar Ali (59) gave Pakistan a solid start at the beginning as the duo scored 128 runs in the opening stand.

It was Azhar's run out in the 23rd over which gave India their first break in the match.

Ali played smartly and contributed 59 runs in his 71-ball knock.

He hit the Indian bowlers outside the park by smashing six boundaries and an over boundary.

Pakistani batsmen kept scoring runs at rapid pace and did not give Indian bowlers much chance to exert pressure on them.

Even spinner R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed to shine in the crucial final.

Babar Azam (46), Mohammad Hafeez (57*) and Imad Wasim (25*) contributed with their willows.

Hafeez played a sensational knock when he hit four boundaries and three sixes in his 37-ball quick-fire innings.

Except Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all other Indian bowlers struggled badly to give some challenge to the opponents.

Pandya,Kumar and Kedar Jadhav picked up a wicket each.

Image: ICC Twitter page