BIRMINGHAM: India overpowered arch-rivals Pakistan by 124 runs in a rain-marred Group B encounter of the Champions Trophy here on Sunday.
Asked to bat first, the Indians rode on a power packed performance by the top order to post a challenging total.
In an innings affected by rain twice -- consequently shortened to 48 overs as against the normal 50 -- India posted 319/3.
Further rain interruptions forced the match officials to revise the target to 324 runs off 48 overs according to the the Duckworth Lewis method.
The Pakistanis were off to a steady start thanks to openers Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad.
The duo put together an opening stand of 47 runs in nine overs before pacer Buvneshwar Kumar struck the first blow for India by trapping Shehzad leg before.
Ali continued to battle on, top scoring for Pakistan with a steady 50 runs off 65 balls before being dismissed.
But the rest of the Pakistan batsmen seemed to buckle under pressure and failed to rise to the challenge.
India score 319
Title-holders India scored 319 for 3 off 48 overs in their opening Champions Trophy Group B match against arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday. Pakistan target is revised to 289 in 41 overs.
Rohit Sharma scored 91 in India’s innings while Virat Kohli, the India captain, scored an unbeaten 81 after Pakistan skipper Safraz Ahmed had won the toss and opted to field.
The real damage was done to Pakistan during a blistering third-wicket stand of 93 in 59 deliveries between India captain Virat Kohli (81 not out) and Yuvraj Singh (53), with both batsmen dropped.
Hardik Pandya hit the first three balls of Imad Wasim's last over of the innings for six on his way to 20 not out.
Yuvraj Singh, who came in as Rohit Sharma fell, scored 53 off 32 balls, while opener Shikhar Dhavan also crossed fifty with 68 off 65 balls.
For Pakistan, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan bagged one wicket each.
Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan shared an opening stand of 136 either side of an initial 50-minute rain interruption.
#wahabriaz now has the most expensive figures in the Champions Trophy
#INDvPAK #ChampionsTrophy17 #CT17 pic.twitter.com/x4eBT88Cxv— Neha (@iamneha8401) June 4, 2017
Left-hander Dhawan eventually fell for 68 when he hit a full toss from teenage leg-spinner Shadab Khan to Azhar Ali at deep midwicket.
Mohammad Amir was the pick of Pakistan's attack with none for 32 in 8.1 overs in what was the first Group B match of a tournament featuring the world's top eight ODI sides for both the arch-rivals.
This was both Asian giants' first match of the 2017 Champions Trophy, a 50-overs per side tournament featuring the world's top-eight one-day international teams.
When India won the last edition, in 2013, they beat Pakistan by eight wickets in a rain-affected group match at Edgbaston.
First-innings scoreboard
India
R. Sharma run out (Babar Azam/Sarfraz Ahmed) 91
S. Dhawan c Azhar Ali b Shadab Khan 68
V. Kohli not out 81
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Hasan Ali 53
H. Pandya not out 20
Extras (lb2, w2, nb2) 6
Total (3 wkts, 48 overs) 319
Did not bat: MS Dhoni, K Jadhav, R Jadeja, B Kumar, U Yadav, J Bumrah
Fall of wickets: 1-136 (Dhawan), 2-192 (Sharma), 3-285 (Yuvraj)
Bowling: Amir 8.1-1-32-0; Wasim 9.1-0-66-0 (1w); Ali 10-0-70-1 (1nb); Riaz 8.4-0-87-0 (1nb, 1w); Shadab 10-0-52-1; Shoaib 2-0-10-0
