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The Narendra Modi Stadium has a capacity of 132,000 spectators.
CNN
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Fans packed into the massive Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, to watch India take on Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on Saturday.
And in front of a sea of blue India jerseys punctuated by flashes of green, orange and white as people waved India flags, the home team secured a stunning victory over Pakistan by seven wickets.
A cricket match between India and Pakistan is often referred to as one of the world’s greatest sporting grudge matches and is always linked to the geopolitical fault lines that separate the two nations.
There were small groups of Pakistan fans who find it incredibly difficult to travel to India due to the bureaucracy and historical mistrust that limited citizens’ freedom of movement between the countries, but they were largely absent from the audience.
The two teams had not played each other on Indian soil for seven years and Pakistan had never beaten India in a men’s World Cup.
Initially it looked like this record might be under threat as Pakistan started strongly and were on course to post a competitive total as captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put on 82 runs for the third wicket, with Babar scoring for the first time since scored a half-century in an ODI match against India.
But soon after, he was bowled by Mohammed Siraj and after his dismissal, Pakistan collapsed from a strong position of 155-3 to 191 as India’s bowlers breached their batting line-up in just 42.5 overs.
Led by a rampaging Rohit Sharma, who starred with 86 off 63 balls, India responded with ease and equaled Pakistan’s total with 117 balls remaining.
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Rohit Sharma led his team to victory.
“The bowlers were the ones who controlled the game for us again today,” Rohit told Sky Sports afterwards. “It was a big effort to limit them to 190. I don’t think it was a 190 pitch.
“We don’t want to get our hopes too high or too low. We want to keep the balance, that’s the key. It’s a long tournament.”
India next play against Bangladesh on Thursday while Pakistan take on Australia on Friday.
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