Colombo, Feb 15 Ishan Kishan's power combined with finesse led to a fifty before Jasprit Bumrah demolished Pakistan's top order with his exceptionally talented right-arm bowling, securing a one-sided 61-run win for India in the T20 World Cup Super Eight round on Sunday.
Kishan's explosive 77 (40 balls) on the challenging Premadasa pitch was invaluable, helping India reach 175 for 7 after they were asked to bat first. This was one of the most entertaining T20I innings by an Indian batsman, considering the difficulty of the pitch.
Pakistan needed a strong Power Play to chase 176. However, Bumrah (2/17) and Hardik Pandya (2/16) dismissed Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, and Salman Ali Agha, effectively ending the match. India now leads 8-1 in all T20 World Cup encounters.
Pandya started the game with a brilliant over against Farhan, who could only sky the ball to Rinku Singh.
Bumrah then unleashed his skills on the Pakistani batters in his first over.
Ayub was caught out after attempting a difficult shot against Bumrah.
Agha was clueless against Bumrah's length deliveries, scooping the ball to Pandya at mid-wicket.
Pakistan were in trouble at 13 for three, which soon became 34 for four after Babar Azam's slog sweep off Axar Patel led to his stumps being dislodged.
Pakistan's Powerplay produced 38 for four compared to India's 52 for one, and this advantage continued to widen as the match progressed.
Pakistan struggled to find a way to counter India's spinners, with Kuldeep Yadav, Axar, Tilak Varma, and Varun Chakravarthy keeping them under pressure.
Earlier, Kishan shared an 87-run partnership with Tilak for the second wicket, with Tilak contributing 11 runs.
The match, which had several dramatic weeks due to the combination of sports and politics, started unusually with Pakistan captain Agha bringing himself into the attack and dismissing Abhishek Sharma.
Agha continued his off-spin in the Power Play, resulting in the desired outcome.
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.
However, for the next 7.4 overs, Kishan dominated the Premadasa pitch, with shots flying all around the venue.
Kishan started with an arrogant pull off pacer Afridi that thundered into the hoardings beyond the mid-wicket fence.
But that was just the beginning. Kishan quickly dismantled the Pakistani spinners.
Agha and Ayub were dismissed for four each, while leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was carted for six and four off successive deliveries.
The four was a spectacular shot. Despite the slow pitch, Kishan used his power and placement to cut the ball through his wrists, sending it to the third man fence.
Later, leg-spinner Shadab Khan was also clobbered for a six, as Kishan reached his fifty in just 27 balls, which is impressive considering the challenging conditions and the strong opposition.
Tilak did not struggle significantly, but he also did not look entirely comfortable, as Kishan took over the responsibility of pushing the score ahead.
However, Kishan's attempt to clear Ayub over mid-wicket had disastrous consequences.
He missed the ball entirely, leading to the loss of his bails, which brought relief to the Pakistani players.
From there, they fought back, and Ayub was at the forefront of their revival.
Ayub dismissed Tilak (25, 24 balls) and Hardik Pandya (0) in consecutive overs, as India slipped to 126 for four from 126 for two in the 15th over.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32, 28 balls) and Shivam Dube (27, 17 balls) could not contribute significantly but added 33 runs to take India past the 150-run mark.
Dube also handled mystery spinner Usman Tariq, who had been kept back until the 11th over, and managed to steal a couple of boundaries.
Tariq also had his moment when he dismissed Suryakumar in the 19th over.
However, a 15-run final over by Afridi, with Dube and Rinku Singh hitting him hard, pushed India past the 170-run mark.
