A fortnight ago, Pakistan lost by 124 runs to India. They were sloppy in the field and next to awful with the bat. And the way they have fought back to recover and then pulled off this remarkable victory, against their biggest rivals, is truly fantastic. Especially while ranked 8 in the world. Pakistan’s win by 180 runs is their biggest ever v India in ODIs in terms of runs, surpassing their 159 run win in Delhi in 2005. This is an equally brilliant moment for Mickey Arthur. The last Champions Trophy cost him his job as Australia coach. Personally, my player of the tournament is Hasan, who ended with 13 wickets. The closest player to him was Australia's Josh Hazlewood, who took 9 - and 6 of those came in his side's opening game against New Zealand. For his 114 from 106 balls, which contained 12 boundaries and three sixes, Fakhar Zaman is the man of the match.
In the chase, Amir claimed three in a short burst which was up there with the best new-ball spells I've ever seen. He trapped Rohit in front, for a duck, had Dhawan caught by Sarfraz for 21 and saw Kolhi hole out to Shadab for 5. Hasan himself claimed three: Dhoni caught by Imad for 4, and Ashwin snaffled by Sarfraz for 1, and it was the same combination which saw Bumrah fall, for 1 as well. Shadab trapped Yuvraj in front on 22 and had Jadhav caught behind on 9, while Hardik was ran out on 76 and Babar caught Jadeja off Junaid for 15.
Pakistan's total was fearsome, but given India's batting depth, many expected them to make it. But Amir was just on another level - and could have sent back Kohli quicker, if Azhar had held that catch. India were 30-3 and then 54-5, but Hardik threatened them, scoring three consecutive sixes off Shadab. But it was an absolute drubbing: 180 is the highest winning margin of any ICC event. 73.71 was the difference between Pakistan's batting and bowling averages in the semi-finals and final of this tournament: they scored 92.16 runs per wicket, and conceded only 18.45 runs per dismissal. They scored 6.34 runs per over, and conceded only 4.59 per over. These numbers indicate their utter dominance in the two biggest games of the tournament, against two of the toughest opponents: they beat England by eight wickets with 77 balls to spare in the semi-finals, and thrashed India by 180 runs in the final.