Rohit Sharma leads India’s dominant World Cup victory over dire Pakistan

This was a giant of an occasion, but a midget of a match. After all the weeks of anticipation, the days of travel as fans journeyed across India and from its diaspora towards the homing beacon this epic bowl had become, and the hours as they filed and then flooded into the ground, in cricket terms it was decided in little more than the blink of an eye, the time it took for Pakistan to crumble.

A heaving but not quite full stadium – there were a few bald patches in what was otherwise a blue rinse – ended up hosting a game that was almost as one-sided as the crowd, a far from even contest that started with an innings of two uneven halves, and ended with India winning by seven wickets, with more than 19 overs to spare.

Pakistan now have a 0-8 record in these matches at World Cups – this was not the first time they have shrunk to the occasion – but there was at least some early promise. Midway through the 30th over they were 155 for two, Babar Azam had just reached his half-century and Mohammad Rizwan’s was not far away. They had scored slowly, but importantly they had not lost wickets, had two set batters, and seemed poised to post a challenging score.

From that moment they faced 78 balls, scored 36 runs and lost eight wickets. After Babar and Rizwan’s partnership of 82 came sequels of seven, four, two, three, 16, none and three. There was good bowling and good captaincy – as soon as Pakistan started reeling Rohit Sharma rushed Jasprit Bumrah back to deliver the knockout blows – but the team in green ended with a total to match their miserable resistance.

Only twice in the past 20 years, both in 2011, has a team successfully defended a total below 200 at the World Cup, and this never looked likely to become a third, not with Rohit in this kind of mood. He hit his first ball for four and by the time he was out, 63 balls, six fours, six sixes and 86 runs later, India were 36 from victory, whereupon Shreyas Iyer assumed control. Rohit’s was an innings of ambition, sweet timing and occasionally sheer contempt, in which he did some particularly mean things to Haris Rauf.

India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates with Virat Kohli after taking the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan. Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

A poor game, then, but a hell of a party, made all the sweeter for those present by the fact everyone could start celebrating so swiftly – and that for all the predicted chaos the event seemed as smooth as India’s victory procession. At 9am, five hours before the start and an hour before the gates opened, local roads had already been shut down, queues of suddenly boxed-in cars were coming to terms with the fact that the streets they were happily driving down had just become dead ends, car parks were approaching capacity, and fans – the vast majority wearing India’s blue shirts – were gathering at the gates.

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Outside Gate 1, the main entrance, they spilled down the street and into the distance as final preparations were made for their entry. There was a heavy security presence – at least nine different police or military uniforms, plus a private security firm for good measure – but the atmosphere was relaxed as those outside sounded air horns and chanted to pass the time.

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Nearby, India’s National Disaster Response Force – a bit like St John’s Ambulance, but with a much scarier name – stood ready for action. While mainly focused on first aid the Times of India reported they had also prepared contingencies “for any chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies during the match”, which was not entirely reassuring.

It often seems there is no such thing in India as an orderly queue, and little about the country astonishes quite as much as the behaviour its drivers consider acceptable at roundabouts, but this surprisingly orderly throng eased painlessly into the ground. Bags were checked, any flag that wasn’t the nation’s tricolour was confiscated, a handful of miscreants with counterfeit tickets were led, tightly gripped by the waistband, to a waiting police car.

And, slowly, the ground filled. An opening ceremony, a slick succession of locally renowned singers, was held an hour and a half before the start, which seemed an odd thing to do before the 12th game of the tournament, but not entirely outlandish. The previous 11 had all suffered for not being this one, for being in the shadow of this beast. The question now, as the rest of the tournament leaves it behind, is how long Pakistan are going to be stuck there.