COLOMBO, FEB 15: Early wickets put Pakistan on the back foot as they begin their 176-run chase in the high-stakes ICC Men’s T20 World Cup encounter at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
Earlier, Pakistan spinners held India in check, limiting them to 175/7.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha’s decision to field first did not prove beneficial for the Green Shirts as the Men in Blue accumulated 175/7 in their 20 overs.
India got off to a dismal start to their innings as Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha’s decision to open the attack gave them a massive breakthrough in the form of top-ranked T20I batter Abhishek Sharma, who fell for a four-ball duck.
Following the early stutter, opener Kishan forced an astounding recovery by putting together a one-sided second-wicket partnership with Tilak Varma.
The partnership frustrated Pakistan’s bowling unit and yielded 87 runs off 45 deliveries before Saim Ayub gave the Green Shirts a much-needed breakthrough by getting rid of set batter Kishan, who remained the top-scorer with a 40-ball 77, comprising 10 fours and three sixes.
Kishan’s dismissal forced the new pair of Varma and Suryakumar Yadav to rework the innings as they batted cautiously to add 38 runs for the third-wicket stand before Saim pulled things back by dismissing the left-handed batter and Hardik Pandya (zero) in successive deliveries.
Varma made a cautious 25 off 24 deliveries with the help of two fours and a six.
With the scoreboard reading 126/4 in 14.3 overs, Shivam Dube joined skipper Yadav in the middle, and the duo retained India’s momentum by knitting a 33-run stand, which culminated with the latter’s dismissal in the penultimate over off Usman Tariq.
The Indian captain remained a notable run-getter with a 29-ball 32, laced with three boundaries.
Dube followed suit and perished on the penultimate delivery of the innings after scoring 27 off 17 deliveries, hitting three fours and a six.
Saim Ayub was the standout bowler for Pakistan, taking three wickets for 25 runs in his four overs, while Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Tariq made one scalp apiece.
