India on Sunday routed their bitter rivals Pakistan by 61 runs to qualify for the next round of the Men’s T20 World Cup in a showdown that had been in doubt until a few days ago.
Suryakumar Yadav’s side scored 175-7 after being given a flying start by Ishan Kishan’s brilliant 77, and then bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs.
The defeat for Pakistan continued their woeful record against India in World Cups.
Photo: AP
India have won eight of nine T20 World Cup meetings and all eight of their ODI World Cup encounters.
“I think this is for India,” said Suryakumar after his side followed the West Indies into the Super Eights stage. “Batting first was [the] better option on this wicket.”
Pakistan got off to the worst possible start in their chase of 176 to win, Sahibzada Farhan top-edging a slog across the line to mid-on for a duck in Hardik Pandya’s first over.
It became 6-2 when Jasprit Bumrah’s second ball trapped Saim Ayub (6) leg before wicket.
Captain Salman Agha (4) was next to go, with another mistimed slog off Bumrah’s sixth ball leaving his team in dire straits at 13-3.
When spinner Axar Patel bowled Babar Azam for 5, Pakistan were in tatters at 34-4.
Usman Khan offered some resistance, scoring 44 from 34 balls with a six and six fours, but after he charged down the pitch to Axar and Kishan stumped him, it sparked a mini-collapse to 78-7 and the game was done and dusted.
Earlier, India captain Suryakumar and his Pakistan opposite number Agha did not shake hands at the coin toss, which Agha won and elected to bowl.
The two captains did the same in their three matches at the Asia Cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last year, including the final.
The off-on Group A match was only confirmed to go ahead six days previously when the Pakistan government made a U-turn on a threat to boycott the encounter.
India opening batsman Abhishek Sharma returned after a stomach bug, but lasted only four balls before falling without scoring.
Kishan was unperturbed by the loss of his partner and set about an assault on the Pakistan bowlers, bringing up his half-century off 27 balls.
He was middling the ball all round the park, so it was a major surprise when he missed a straight delivery from spinner Ayub and was bowled.
“Ishan thought outside the box,” Suryakumar said. “After we were 0-1, someone had to take responsibility and the way he took it was amazing.”
Kishan dominated the strike so much that when he departed it was with 77 runs out of India’s 88-2 after 8.4 overs to his name. He smacked three sixes and 10 fours.
“I was just keeping it simple, and watching the ball and playing with the field, maybe trying to make them run as much as they can, but yeah, I think it worked pretty well,” Kishan said.
Kishan’s departure enabled Pakistan to put the brakes on India’s batsmen and, after 14 overs, they had advanced the score only to 125-2.
Tilak Varma, on 25, became Ayub’s second victim, trapped leg before wicket and India were 126-3 when he then got Hardik caught in the deep next ball.
Shivam Dube was beaten all ends up by the hat-trick ball, but it bounced over the top of middle stump and he somehow survived.
Suryakumar made 32 off 29 balls. Dube was run out in the final over for 27.
The cricket teams of the nuclear-armed neighbors only meet in multi-nation tournaments at neutral venues as part of a compromise deal.
It has been more than 18 years since India and Pakistan last met in a Test match, and 13 years since either side crossed the border to play a bilateral international series.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS