Arjun Rajput made 107 from 22 for 3, and Hamza Zahoor’s hundred still beat India in Muscat

India were 22 for 3 in the 12th over when Arjun Rajput walked out at Al Amerat on Sunday, and 42 for 4 not long after. He made 107 off 85 balls and dragged them to 208. Pakistan were 61 for 5 in reply. Then wicketkeeper Hamza Zahoor batted through the rest of the chase, and his tenth four, off the first ball of the 49th over, brought up his own hundred and won the game by three wickets.

Rajput’s hundred came out of a collapse

India chose to bat and lost their captain to the second ball. Lakshya Raichandani, who made 53 not out against Nepal on Friday, was bowled by Ali Raza for nought. VK Vineeth and Yashbardhan Chauhan went cheaply, and Aaryavir Sehwag, unbeaten on 70 two days earlier, was caught off Niqab Shafiq for 22.

Rajput, a left-hander who bats in the middle order and bowls off-spin, took the game on from there. He reached fifty off 48 balls and his hundred off 80, and hit 11 fours and five sixes in all. Anvay Dravid made 10 before he fell at 86 for 5, and Rajput and Manal Chauhan then added 64 for the sixth wicket. When Rajput was caught by the Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf off Rizwanullah in the 36th over, India were 170 for 7. The last three wickets added 38, Kavya Paresh Patel’s 23 the only other score above 22, and India were all out with 21 balls unused.

Pakistan’s three main bowlers shared nine wickets equally. Ali Raza took 3 for 37, Rizwanullah 3 for 24 from seven overs and Shafiq 3 for 42.

Rajput is from Jalandhar, where his father sold chhole-kulche from a cart in Ram Nagar for years before starting a bakery.

Zahoor and Dar put on 107

For a while, 208 looked like plenty. Ishan Sood and Mohit Ulva had both openers caught behind by Dravid. Then Manal Chauhan bowled Abdul Qadir, Patel had Farhan Yousaf caught, Chauhan trapped Ahmed Hussain lbw, and Pakistan had lost three wickets for six runs to be 61 for 5 in the 15th over.

Zahoor and Hasnain Abbas Dar then batted for 23 overs together. Dar was the slower partner, with 38 off 67 balls, and Zahoor scored around him. Their stand of 107 had Pakistan within 41 runs when Manal Chauhan had Dar caught by Rajput off the last ball of the 38th over. Chauhan finished with 3 for 32 from his ten overs, India’s best figures.

India still had a sniff. Ulva had Mohammad Sayyam caught behind at 183 for 7, and Sood’s ninth over cost three runs and left Pakistan needing four from 12 balls. Zahoor needed four for his hundred, and Patel’s next delivery went for four. He finished 100 not out off 108 balls, with ten fours and three sixes, and was named player of the match. Rajput had made more runs, and made them faster, but Zahoor’s hundred was the one still there at the end.

Beat the UAE, or go home

The UAE beat Nepal by seven wickets earlier in the day, so Pakistan top Group A on four points with India and the UAE on two and Nepal on none. Only the top two reach the semi-finals on 12 November.

That makes Tuesday’s game against the UAE a knockout for India. A win takes them through with Pakistan. A defeat puts the UAE through instead, whatever Pakistan do against Nepal. Both games on Tuesday start at 10:30am IST.

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