India beats Pakistan in T20 World Cup grudge match after Kishan’s ‘great’ innings

A day without handshakes, and a lot of head shaking for Pakistan. India cruised to victory in what became world cricket’s most lucrative mismatch after a superlative kick from opener Ishan Kishan did it definitively in their favor.

In the second half, a match that was dramatically in and out became a match in which a parade of Pakistani batters dramatically in and out. Chasing a target of 176, they were seven behind before even reaching the halfway point, and were eventually hurled to 114 to lose by 61 runs.

Kishan’s innings was a glorious anomaly, with the 27-year-old flourishing on a surface that few have come to terms with. Only one other player hit more than three fours; Kishan hit 10. No one else produced more than one six; Kishan managed three. In total he hit 77 runs off 40 balls, and the extent to which he stood out was illustrated by the fact that, when dismissed, he had scored 88.5% of his team’s runs.

“Ishan thought something out of the box. Someone had to take responsibility and he did that in an astonishing manner,” said Suryakumar Yadav, India’s captain.

Pakistan won the toss and very little else. Yadav said he was planning to bat first anyway, but for Salman Agha, a spinning delivery was a gift he couldn’t wait to unwrap. Pakistan’s captain insisted on getting his hands on it first, bowling himself at the start of the match – the first time in eight matches this year that he has bowled at all – and for a few quiet moments his team were on top.

That opening yielded just one run and the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, who entered the tournament as the most feared batsman in world cricket but has now faced five balls and not scored in two World Cup appearances. Perhaps things would have been different if Salman’s luck had not turned in his second over, when Kishan misdirected the ball into the air twice: the first time it flew just too far to reach the fielder on the back point, the second time it didn’t quite fly far enough to catch the man at distance.

Pakistan’s array of spinners (they threw only two over seams) rarely caused Kishan any discomfort after that. “Our spinners had a bad day,” Salman said. “The pitch played better in the second innings but we didn’t bowl according to the situation and we didn’t use ourselves with the bat.”

But while Kishan drove almost two runs per ball, Tilak Varma at the other end barely managed, as did Yadav after his dismissal. It was clear from the travails of these batters that India had set a challenging target, and that Pakistan’s chances of achieving this target were fleeting. It would be tempting to note that their reaction started in the worst possible way, if it weren’t for the fact that it got even worse from there.

Hardik Pandya started and finished, opening proceedings with a wicket maiden and ending them by ripping out Usman Tariq’s middle stump with the last ball of the 18th over. Jasprit Bumrah bowled the second over of the innings and after dismissing Saim Ayub, a brilliant inswinging yorker, for the second time in the match with his second ball, Salman had to lead by example. At mid-off, he bowled his fourth delivery, in a slow and miserable arc, to Pandya. Realistically, to have any chance, Pakistan needed its top four to establish at least one lasting partnership. These main hitters combined to score 15 of 17.

The win confirms the co-hosts’ qualification for the Super Eights with a match to spare, and if the magnitude of this defeat means that Pakistan, with one match to play, are below the US in the Group A standings in terms of net run rate, they will only give up their place in the next round if they lose their final match against Namibia across town at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Wednesday.

“We have a match in a few days and we have to look forward to it,” Salman said. “We have to win that and qualify. Then it’s a new tournament.”