Kohli guides India to comfortable win over Pakistan

ICC Champions Trophy Group A, Dubai

Pakistan 241 (49.4 overs): Saud 62, Rizwan 46; Kuldeep 3-40

India 244-4 (42.3 overs): Kohli 100* Shreyas 56; Shaheen 2-74

India won by six wickets

Scorecard; Tables

Virat Kohli hit a composed unbeaten century as India beat Pakistan by five wickets which put them on the cusp of reaching the Champions Trophy semi-finals and left their opponents on the brink of elimination.

Pakistan mustered a rather unthreatening total of 241 after they won the toss and batted first, lacking power, intent and belief against a disciplined India attack.

Saud Shakeel and Muhammad Rizwan top scored with 62 and 46 respectively, but they fashioned them off a rather ponderous 76 and 77 balls each.

Khushdil Shah boosted the total with a late cameo - whacking 38 off 39 balls - but Pakistan's total felt light at a ground where the average first-innings winning score in one-day internationals is 258.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav finished the pick of India's bowlers with 3-40 while Hardik Pandya's economical eight overs brought him 2-31.

Pakistan's hopes flickered when a brutal yorker from left-arm quick Shaheen Afridi swung into India captain Rohit Sharma's middle stump in the fifth over.

However, from that point it was a relative cakewalk for India as Kohli guided them to the target with his usual elan.

Abrar Ahmed produced a fizzing leg-break to dismiss Shubman Gill for 46 with a beauty but it only staved off the inevitable.

Shreyas Iyer made an enterprising 56 but the day belonged to Kohli as his hundred off 111 balls, featuring seven fours, guided India home with 45 balls to spare.

Ever the showman, Kohli gave the crowd at the Dubai International Stadium a signature moment as he reached three figures in the process of wrapping up the win.

With two runs left for victory, and Kohli on 98, the 36-year-old thrashed a powerful drive off Khushdil Shah through extra cover for four to send the India fans wild.

India have two victories from their opening two group matches and sit top of Group A while Pakistan have lost both and are at the foot of the table.

Should New Zealand beat Bangladesh on Monday then India's place in the knockout phase will be assured along with the Kiwis, and Pakistan will be out.

A perpetual narrative around Pakistan is their mercurial nature - a team with mavericks capable of beating any other side on their day.

Maybe, it's time to dispense with it.

Pakistan's jack-in-the-box surprise element now feels akin to a cliche from a bygone era. The circus is still in town, but the trapeze artists, tightrope walkers and other eye-catching acts are no more.

A tepid defeat to New Zealand in their opening game was followed by another disappointing showing in a match which mattered most for the Champions Trophy holders – against their biggest rivals, and upon which the continuation of their title defence would practically rest.

Once again Pakistan's fragile and stodgy top order failed to muster the runs which would prove a real challenge to their Indian counterparts.

Rizwan and Saud ensured respectability, with a 104-run stand for the third wicket, but much of Pakistan's approach with the bat felt like a template for noble defeat.

Haris Rauf, with eight off seven balls, had a strike-rate of 114.28 and was the only player in Pakistan's batting line-up to score at better than a run a ball. They chewed up 147 dot balls in 49.4 overs.

The pitch played its part, of course. India squeezed Pakistan through the middle overs, and no boundaries were scored from the first ball of the 16th over to the second of the 25th on a slow surface.

Rizwan and Shakeel eventually attempted to up the ante but it brought their inevitable downfall – bowled by Axar Patel, and caught in the deep off Hardik.

In the Champions Trophy in 2017, Pakistan lost to India by a whopping 127 runs in the group stage.

Fourteen days later, they were crowned champions after beating India after an X-Factor knock at The Oval by Fakhar Zaman - ruled out of this tournament after he picked up an injury in the first game.

With their hopes now resting on an unlikely series of results a repeat seems a very distant prospect this year.

With such a modest total, India had the luxury of being able to dictate the pace of their chase, and a player who has frequently been the scourge of Pakistan bowlers inevitably played the leading hand.

In 17 ODI innings against Pakistan, Kohli has how scored 778 runs at an average of 59.84 with four centuries.

No India player with 500-plus ODI runs in the format averages more against Pakistan.

Kohli rarely seemed to break sweat during a chanceless knock which featured shots around the ground, and was characterised by powerful drives, waspish cuts and clinical punishment of anything short.

It took Kohli beyond 14,000 ODI runs in 63 fewer innings than his idol Sachin Tendulkar, who is the leading run-scorer in the format.

Tendulkar's 18,426 ODI runs might prove just out of reach for Kohli but he well is within striking distance of Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who is second on the all-time list with 14,234.

One record Kohli did bag was most ODI catches for India as he pouched his 158th and leapfrogged Mohammad Azharuddin (156) and into top spot.

The elephant in the room is this match was played in the United Arab Emirates, where India will play of all their fixtures for this tournament.

Political tensions mean the two countries have not faced each other outside of men's major tournaments since 2013, while India have not played in Pakistan since 2008.

Pakistan would doubtless have benefitted from passionate home support - their fans were outnumbered by India's in Dubai - but regardless of the venue, Kohli would have taken some stopping.

Pakistan face Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in their final group match on Thursday.

However, India must wait until next Sunday to wrap up the group stage when they play New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium.

New Zealand will look to secure their place in the semi-finals when they face Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.

The Black Caps beat Pakistan in their opening game while Bangladesh are looking to bounce back from a defeat by India.