
Colombo, Feb 15 – On a tricky, spin-friendly pitch at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Ishan Kishan delivered a brilliant performance, smashing 77 off 40 balls to help India defeat Pakistan by 61 runs in their Group A match at the T20 World Cup, securing their place in the Super Eights.
Kishan’s innings, featuring 10 fours and three sixes, was crucial in a match where 18 of the 20 overs bowled by India involved spin. His aggressive approach ensured that the defending champions finished with 175/7, a score that was significantly higher than expected. Pakistan struggled to recover from the early wickets taken by Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, which vindicated India's strong start.
Usman Khan’s 44 off 34 was the only significant contribution, but it wasn't enough to change the momentum as Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs, thanks to disciplined bowling from the Indian team.
For Pakistan, the collapse highlighted their batting weaknesses under pressure. Their total of 114 was their third-lowest in T20 World Cup history, behind the 82 against West Indies in 2014 and 113 against India in 2024.
Kishan’s innings had a significant impact. After Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck by Salman Agha’s off-spin, the rest of India’s batting, including extras, managed only 98 off 80 balls – a performance that reflected the challenging nature of the pitch. However, Kishan’s explosive batting had already tilted the balance, and once Pakistan’s top order faltered in the powerplay, India’s dominant victory became inevitable.
India’s chase began nervously as Abhishek Sharma miscued a chip to Salman Ali Agha’s off-spin and was out for a duck. Kishan quickly asserted himself by hitting a six off Shaheen Shah Afridi. Another boundary came from an inside edge, while Tilak Varma scored his first runs with a four going past slip.
Kishan greeted Salman with a four over mid-on, and then punished a short ball from Saim Ayub with another boundary. Despite a couple of deliveries stopping in the pitch, Kishan maintained his momentum by hitting a towering six behind square off Abrar Ahmed, followed by a four cut through cover.
Kishan narrowly avoided being dismissed when mid-on almost caught him, but he still managed a boundary. Tilak Varma also edged one past short third for four, bringing India’s total to 52/1 by the end of the powerplay. When Abrar returned for his second over, Kishan opened his bat face for a deft glide past short third for four, before he hit two commanding strokes – a lofted drive over the bowler's head and a blistering extra-cover hit – to reach his half-century off just 27 balls.
Shadab Khan’s introduction did little to slow down the scoring as Kishan swept him over fine leg for four, and then launched a towering six over deep mid-wicket. But after a dazzling reverse hit over backward point, Kishan was dismissed by a sharp delivery from Saim Ayub, which gripped and turned sharply from leg stump, as the opener backed away too early and the ball crashed into the stumps.
Suryakumar Yadav announced his arrival by pulling Usman Tariq’s first ball through the gap between long-on and deep mid-wicket for four. Soon after, Tilak Varma produced a majestic lofted six off Mohammad Nawaz, before Suryakumar survived a tight lbw review off Nawaz.
India’s measured approach through the middle overs was disrupted when Ayub trapped Varma lbw after being beaten while attempting a sweep. One wicket led to another as Hardik Pandya, promoted to accelerate, miscued a carrom ball and holed out to long-off for a golden duck.
Ayub nearly had a hat-trick, getting one to dip, turn, and bounce past Shivam Dube’s defensive shot and missed the stumps by inches. Pakistan also wasted a review for a caught behind, as the ball had missed the edge comfortably.
From there, Suryakumar and Shivam Dube hit four boundaries between themselves before the former mistimed a slog to deep mid-wicket off Tariq. Dube and Rinku Singh then hit three boundaries in the final over off Shaheen, but the former and Axar Patel fell in the last two balls of the innings, as 35 runs came in the last three overs.
Pandya set the tone with a wicket maiden opening over, denying Sahibzada Farhan any scoring opportunities before forcing him into a mistimed pull that ballooned to mid-on and dismissed him for a four-ball duck.
Jasprit Bumrah then struck twice in quick succession – first deceiving Saim Ayub with an inswinger after hitting a streaky six, and then removing Salman Agha when he chipped tamely to mid-on. At 13/3 inside two overs, Pakistan’s chase was already in disarray.
Usman Khan briefly lifted spirits with a pair of elegant inside-out boundaries off Axar Patel, but Babar Azam’s dismissal on the slog-sweep left Pakistan tottering at 34/4 in the fifth over. Usman, however, stood tall, striking four more boundaries to reach 43 off 31 balls.
Yet the equation remained steep for Pakistan, with 105 runs needed from the final 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav’s miserly 10th over proved to be decisive. Having denied Usman a boundary, he forced the batter into hitting riskier strokes against Axar in the following over. Axar anticipated the charge and fired one in to have Usman stumped for 44 off 34 balls.
With that, Pakistan’s faint hopes of acing the uphill chase evaporated. The procession continued as Kuldeep removed Mohammad Nawaz with a full toss, before Tilak Varma struck with his very first ball to have Shadab Khan hole out to long-off.
At 78/7 in 12.1 overs, Pakistan’s chase had unravelled completely, as India’s spinners and seamers combined to leave the contest all but decided in favour of the defending champions. Varun Chakaravarthy got two wickets while Pandya, after seeing catches being dropped off his bowling twice, knocked back Usman Tariq’s middle stump to ensure India hammered Pakistan in the T20 World Cup yet again.
Brief scores:
India 175/7 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 77, Suryakumar Yadav 32; Saim Ayub 3-25, Salman Agha 1-10) beat Pakistan 114 all out in 18 overs (Usman Khan 44, Shaheen Shah Afridi 23; Hardik Pandya 2-16, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-17) by 61 runs





