Captain Suryakumar Yadav led India to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Pakistan in a politically-charged Asia Cup match on Sunday before dedicating the win to their armed forces.
India’s three-pronged spin attack laid the foundation of their second successive victory in the tournament when they restricted Pakistan for a below-par 127-9.
Opener Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma contributed 31 each before Suryakumar, who made 47 not out, sealed India’s victory with a six with 4.1 overs still left in their innings.
The Group A fixture was the first match between the sides since the nuclear-armed neighbours engaged in a four-day military conflict in May this year.
There were demands in India for the team to boycott the match, which went ahead with the Indian board sticking to its stance of playing Pakistan in multi-team events.
At the presentation ceremony, Suryakumar mentioned the April 22 attack in the resort town of Pahalgam in Indian Kashmir, which triggered the military conflict between the neighbours.
“We stand by the victims and their families of the Pahalgam terror attack and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said.
“Also, we want to dedicate today’s win to all our armed forces, who showed a lot of bravery.”
The batter, who turned 35, called the win “a perfect return gift to India”.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Salman Agha opted to bat but they crawled to 49-4 at the halfway stage of their stuttering innings.
Hardik Pandya began with a wide ball in a dramatic first couple of overs when Pakistan lost two wickets and used the review system to prevent the loss of a third batter.
Pandya redeemed himself immediately by dismissing opener Saim Ayub for a duck with the first legitimate delivery of the ball with Jasprit Bumrah taking the catch.
When Bumrah came to bowl the next over, Pandya returned the compliment and took a catch to dismiss Mohammad Haris.
Sahibzada Farhan (40) hit a couple of sixes off Bumrah but left-arm spinner Axar Patel dismissed Fakhar Zaman and Salman in successive overs to put Pakistan under the pump.
Kuldeep Yadav further twisted the knife dismissing Hasan Nawaz and Mohammed Nawaz in successive deliveries and ending Farhan’s gutsy knock.
Shaheen Afridi hit four sixes in his unbeaten 33 to lend some respectability to Pakistan’s total.
India began their chase in the right earnest but Shubman Gill (10) hit Ayub for back-to-back fours before falling to the spinner in the second over.
Abhishek, currently the world’s top-ranked T20 batter, got off to a blazing start but fell to Ayub just when he was looking dangerous.
Ayub claimed a third wicket when he dismissed Varma but Suryakumar stayed put to take India closer to the Super Fours stage of the tournament.
(Reuters)
