Bumrah helps India hold off archrival Pakistan in a low-scoring T20 World Cup thriller

India was in a desperate situation, needing a moment or two of genius to defend a low total against cricket archrival Pakistan at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Skipper Rohit Sharma gave the ball to Jasprit Bumrah, relying on his go-to pace bowler to take the wicket Sunday that would swing the match into India's favour.

The noise and excitement lifted in the capacity crowd at Long Island, with India fans outnumbering supporters from Pakistan.

And Bumrah delivered, later saying after returning match figures of three wickets for 14 runs that it felt like he was playing in India.

Chasing a seemingly meager target of 120, Pakistan was cruising at 80-3 after 14 overs before Bumrah cannoned a ball into the stumps to dismiss Pakistan's top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan for 31. He added the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed off the last ball of a terrific spell.

And so after bowling India out for 119 in 19 overs, Pakistan was restricted to 113-7 in 20 overs in the low-scoring thriller. India's six-run win put Pakistan, the 2022 runners-up, on the brink of a group-stage exit.

"Bumrah is going from strength to strength," Sharma, India's captain, said. "I'm not going to talk too much about him — we want him to be in that kind of mindset until the end of this World Cup.

"He's a genius with the ball."

After being shocked by co-host United States in the Super Over at Dallas in its opening game, Pakistan recovered well to contain India's powerful batting lineup after the start was delayed almost an hour by rain at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

The batters seemed to be handling the tricky, uneven pitch conditions well until Bumrah re-entered the attack for his third over.

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