India defeated their fiercest rivals Pakistan in their group B opener in the ICC Champions Trophy by 124 runs under the Duckworth–Lewis method in a game which showed the difference in class between the sides.
Once again the Indians proved far too strong for the Green Shirts in a major tournament in a rain-affected game at Edgbaston as fifties from Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli propelled the Indians to 319-3 from 48 overs.
In response, Pakistan struggled throughout their innings with only Azhar Ali offering some resistance by scoring 50 from 65 balls but once again it was far to easy for the Indians against their biggest rivals.
Pakistan won a good toss in overcast conditions but didn't take advantage off it
The day started well for the Green Shirts when Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and chose to bowl first in very overcast conditions in Birmingham.
The problem though that they had was that they didn't take advantage of the conditions as despite the players coming off the field early to due to rain, Dhawan and Sharma got the Indians off to a brilliant start as they took their opening partnership past the 100 mark.
Sharma and Dhawan put on 136 for the first wicket
It was finally broken on 136 when Dhawan was dismissed by Shadab Khan for 68 from 65 balls to give the Green Shirts a much needed breakthrough.
All that did though was bring the Indian skipper Kohli to the crease and despite yet more rain taking the players off the field and the game being reduced to 48 overs a side, Kohli and Sharma put together another strong partnership before it was ended on 56.
Continous strong partnerships from the Indians propelled them to a massive score
It was broken when Sharma was run out for 91 from 119 balls from a good piece of work by Babar Azam. The Indian batsmen though kept coming on strong as Yuvraj Singh joined Kohli at the crease at the fall off the second wicket.
The partnership once again was brilliant as both Kohli and Yuvraj went past fifty as the the pair put on 93 before Yuvraj fell for a quickfire 52 from 31 balls off the bowling off Hasan Ali.
Hardik Pandya joined Kohli at the crease for the last few overs as the pair continued to score quickly as the Indians posted 319-3 from their 48 overs with Kohli finishing 81 not out from 68 balls, while Pandya finished 20 not out from six balls.
Rain-affected the start of the Pakistan innings
In reponse, Pakistan needed to get a revised 324 runs to win from 48 overs and they managed to get too 22 without loss before more rain came as the players were once again forced to leave the field much to the frustration of the fans.
When play did resume again, the game was reduced to 41 overs with Pakistan needing 289 to win the match.
The Indians took wickets at regular intervals
Just as the opening partnership between Azhar and Ahmed Shehzad was nearing fifty, the Indians got a crucial wicket. Shehzad was the first man to fall for 12 off the bowling off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the score on 47.
It didn't take long for them to get a second wicket either as Babar fell for eight off the bowling of Umesh Yadav to leave the Green Shirts with alot of work to do.
The good thing for them though was that Azhar managed to show his class as he passed fifty before falling a couple of balls later as his side started to ball behind in the run rate.
Azhar was the only batsmen to show resistance for the Green Shirts as the Indians won by 124 runs
Azhar was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja on 50 which left Pakistan on 91-3 with the Indians well on top after a poor start.
The Indians didn't have to wait long either for a fourth wicket when Shoaib Malik was dismissed for 15 when Jadeja ran him out with a fantastic bit off fielding.
The only other batsmen to show any resistance for the Green Shirts was Mohammed Hafeez but he was the fifth wicket to fall when Jadeja got the wicket off him for 33.
Pandya then removed Imad Wasim for a duck and Sarfraz for 15 to all but end the Green Shirts chances of winning the game.
Yadav finished things off with two wickets in three balls by removing Mohammed Amir for nine and Hasan for a duck to earn the Indians a massive win by 124 runs as they bowled their rivals out for 164 to get off to a perfect start in the tournament.