The arch-rivals locked horns in a Group A match, with India emerging victorious with 61 points. Ishan Kishan smashed a remarkable half-century after Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to play first. Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube also made crucial contributions as India finished at 175/7 in 20 overs.
Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin joked that India could have forced the sequel with the number of runs they scored on a challenging surface in Colombo. He felt that the Pakistani batsmen were not equipped with the expertise required to chase down the 176-run target.
“174 runs on this pitch – they would have followed Pakistan. No, really. If we had scored 20 more runs, we could have followed them here,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel while talking to journalist Vimal Kumar.
Pakistan lost three wickets in the first two overs and never really recovered from the initial setbacks. Their top four hitters couldn’t reach double figures. Wicketkeeper-batsman Usman Khan played his shots and gave Pakistan hope of a miraculous win. However, the hill was too steep to climb alone.
Shaheen Afridi played his shots towards the end but his unbeaten knock of 23 off 19 balls only reduced the margin of defeat. Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy took two wickets each for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma also scored a wicket each.
With this win, India secured a ticket to the Super-Eight stage of the 20-team tournament. On the other hand, Pakistan will have to win their last match against Namibia to progress beyond the group stage.
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