Ishan Kishan’s supersonic knock followed by Jasprit Bumrah’s menacing precision bowling powered India to a commanding 61-run win over arch-rival Pakistan and a Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup in Colombo on Sunday (February 15).
Kishan blended brute power with silken finesse in a breathtaking half-century (77 off 40 balls) on a tacky Premadasa pitch carried India to a competitive 175 for seven after they were asked to bat first. It was easily one of the most entertaining T20I knocks by an Indian batter if one factors in degree of difficulty.
Pakistan needed a strong Power Play segment to chase 176 on this surface. But Bumrah (2/17) and Hardik Pandya (2/16) jettisoned big-hitting Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha to bowl out them for 114, reducing the much-anticipated match into a no-contest.
India now lead 8-1 against Pakistan in all T20 World Cup encounters.
Irrepressible Bumrah
Pandya started the bedlam in the first over of Pakistan’s chase, as his snorter got big on Farhan and he could only sky it to Rinku Singh.
Enter the irrepressible Bumrah. The premier pacer unleashed himself on Pakistan batters in his first over itself.
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Ayub could not handle a devilish inswinging yorker to get caught in front of the wicket.
Agha was as clueless as an exchange student in a foreign country against Bumrah’s back-of-length delivery, scooping it to Panyda at mid-wicket.
Bumbling Pakistan
Pakistan was in all sorts of trouble at 13 for three, and which soon became 34 for four after Babar Azam’s horrendous slog sweep off Axar Patel saw his stumps getting rearranged.
Their Powerplay produced 38 for four compared to India’s 52 for one, and that massive difference continued to widen as the match progressed.
Pakistan did not have either skill or resolve to get out of the quagmire, and continued to perish against Indian spinners through the middle overs as Kuldeep Yadav, Axar, Tilak Varma and Varun Chakravarthy kept them under an unbreakable spell.
No handshake, again
Earlier, Kishan shared an 87-run alliance with Tilak for the second wicket in which the latter’s contribution was a princely 11.
The match, which had several preceding dramatic weeks because of the admixture of sports and politics, was yet another no-handshake one like the Asia Cup in Dubai last year—a fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack last year.
It started off on an unusual note as Pakistan skipper Agha brought himself on for off-spin and accounted for Abhishek Sharma.
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The off-spin continued through Ayub (3/25) in the power play and it fetched the desired result.
Abhishek went for a loft off Agha but could not clear Shaheen Shah Afridi at the edge of the circle in the final ball of the first over.
Kishan’s kingdom
But for the next 7.4 overs, Kishan converted the Premadasa into his own little kingdom, shots flying all around the vast corners of this venue.
The left-hander started with an arrogant chin-high pull off pacer Afridi that thundered into the hoardings beyond the mid-wicket fence.
But that was a mere appetizer. The Jharkhand man soon dismantled an armada of Pakistan spinners.
Agha and Ayub were dispatched for a four each, while leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was carted for a six and four off successive deliveries.
The four was a spectacular shot. Despite the slowness of the deck, Kishan lent power and placement to the late cut through his malleable wrists, forcing the ball sped to the third man fence.
Later, leg-spinner Shadab Khan too was clobbered for a six as Kishan raced to his 50 off just 27 balls, impressive considering the less-than-ideal conditions for shot-making and an opposition that has already played a couple of matches in this part of the world.
Tilak did not precisely struggle, but did not look entirely comfortable either as Kishan took it upon himself the duties of pushing the score ahead.
Pakistan’s face saver
But Kishan’s attempt to give himself space and carve Ayub over mid-wicket had disastrous consequences. He missed the ball altogether to lose the bails as Pakistani players heaved a sigh of relief.
From there, Pakistan clawed back, and Ayub was at the forefront of their revival.
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The offie jettisoned Tilak (25, 24b) and Hardik Pandya (0) off consecutive deliveries as India suddenly slipped to 126 for four from 126 for two in the 15th over.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 28 balls) and Shivam Dube (27 off 17 balls) could not flex their whole muscle but did enough to add 33 runs to take India past the 150-run mark.
Dube also handled mystery spinner Usman Tariq, who was kept back till the 11th over, stealing a couple of boundaries.
Tariq too had his moment when he priced out Suryakumar in the 19th over.
But a 15-run final over by Afridi in which Dube and Rinku Singh tore into him pushed India into the 170-run territory.
(With agency inputs)
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