India once again showcased their superiority over arch-rivals Pakistan in T20 cricket by claiming victory rather comfortably, by a margin of seven wickets, in the Asia Cup encounter. The win takes India’s all-time competition record to 11-3 in this format of the game and further emphasizes, yet again, the gulf in quality between the two teams.
The game sparked a touch of drama in the very first over. Hardik Pandya with the ball ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, took a wicket with the very first legal delivery, removing Saim Ayub. Bumrah came in the next over, and removed Mohammad Haris to leave Pakistan reeling, still attempting to settle into their innings. Sahibzada Farhan made a nice contribution of 40 off 43 although he never was really able to find any rhythm with the bat. In fact, if you were counting, there were 63 stunning dot balls in total for the Pakistan innings.
India’s spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy exerted dominance in the middle overs. Kuldeep’s clever variations earned him 3 for 18; Axar’s precision led to 2 for 18. Pakistan’s attempts to accelerate included unnecessary strokes, leading to the dismissals of Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha, and Mohammad Nawaz. Even Farhan, their leading scorer, succumbed at the onset of the death overs. The only consolation was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s late innings 33*off of 16 balls, that propelled Pakistan to 127 for 9, where 175 was seen to be a par score.
India’s chase was underway with intent with Abhishek Sharma strolling out to the front, and getting things started by plundering Afridi for a four and six in the first over. Shubman Gill rode the momentum wave and also struck a few quick boundaries but both openers fell under Ayub’s delivery, trying to maintain an explosive start. Tilak Varma held the innings together with a paced out, only 31 runs, before he too was dismissed. The real confidence, however, came with Suryakumar Yadav, who steadied the innings with an unbeaten 43 runs. Yadav and Shivam Dube confirmed India’s inevitable victory in 15.5 overs, well ahead of neighbors.
The match demonstrated the striking difference in both sides’ depth and execution. India’s bowlers, especially the spinners, strangled Pakistan’s batting, while their batsman exhibited composure in chasing the modest target with relative ease. With two more possible meetings in the tournament, Pakistan will need to regroup quickly if they are to challenge India again.
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