COLOMBO: Defending champions India beat Pakistan by 61 runs in their Group A match of the Twenty20 World Cup to secure a place in the Super Eight stage of the tournament on Sunday.
Ishan Kishan’s blistering 77 took India to 175-7 at the R. Premadasa Stadium, where Pakistan’s heavy attack managed to stall to some extent after the opener’s outing.
The hosts came back to bowl out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs and claim their third win in a row.
The match came after Pakistan earlier reversed its decision to boycott the game in solidarity with Bangladesh, which refused to tour India “due to security concerns” and was replaced by Scotland.
However, Salman and his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands during the takedown.
India were boosted by the return of Abhishek Sharma, who missed the first two matches due to a stomach infection, but the opener failed to make his mark.
Pakistan captain Salman sprang a surprise by opening the attack himself and the move paid off as the spinner caught Abhishek (lbw) to remove the reigning number one batter in T20 Internationals.
Pakistan used three spinners in the powerplay to try and stem the boundary flow, and India’s score of 52-1 after six overs suggested the ploy had worked to some extent.
However, Kishan could not be contained and the diminutive left-hander stormed into Pakistan’s attack, batting with a take-no-prisoners approach.
The opener needed just 27 balls to reach his second fifty of the tournament.
Saim Ayub ended Kishan’s 40-ball blitz but India were leading 92-2 at mid-innings.
Ayub (3-25) dismissed Tilak Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya with consecutive deliveries to bring the heat back to India.
Suryakumar (32) and Shivam Dube (27) failed to provide the late success that could have taken India beyond the 200-run mark, which at one stage seemed within their reach.
Pakistan became the first team to use six spinners in a T20 World Cup match, but the joy of limiting India to 200 soon evaporated as they slumped to 13-3 two overs into their chase.
Pandya removed Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan for a duck and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ayub and Salman to pin Pakistan.
Babar Azam (five) also did not last long and Pakistan were gasping for breath at 38-4 after six powerplay overs.
Usman Khan (44) challenged India for a while but Axar Patel stumped him to effectively end Pakistan’s chances of an unlikely victory.