Kings of Colombo: India hammer Pakistan

While skipper Suryakumar Yadav had termed Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq as an “out of syllabus” question for the India batters, it was Ishan Kishan who emerged as the answer for the opponent spinners with his fiery 40-ball 77-run innings that proved to be the difference between the two teams.

Kishan stamped his comeback to the Indian team by making it a one-man-show on Sunday as India stormed into the Super 8s. Abhishek Sharma was clearly out of touch as he departed without contributing to the total. Sharma, who loves smashing the pacers in the powerplay, was taken by surprise as Pakistan captain Salman Agha began with spin, bringing himself on for the first over. Pressure built on Sharma as he faced four dot balls and lost his wicket off the next.

Rather than getting overwhelmed by the early setback, Kishan decided to go on the attack. He started with a pull shot off pacer Shaheen Afridi, sending the ball beyond the mid-wicket fence.

Agha and Saim Ayub were dispatched for a boundary each, while leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was carted for a six and a four off successive deliveries.

While Tilak Varma was visibly feeling troubled by the spinners, especially against Tariq and Ayub, Kishan went on a rampage against all. He launched a massive six off leg-spinner Shadab Khan to post 50 off 27 balls, the third fastest fifty in India-Pakistan T20Is. From there, he smashed two more sixes before needing attention for cramps, and eventually fell to Ayub. “I was just keeping it simple… watching the ball and playing according to the field,” said Kishan after India’s record win over Pakistan.

“I think the wicket wasn’t that easy in the beginning. You just have to believe and focus on your strength. I worked a lot on my off-side play. I was just trying to keep it simple. I had that in mind that we needed to put up 160-170 runs and it would be a good total for us. India versus Pakistan is always a special game not only for us but for our country as well. Winning this game against Pakistan will give us a lot of confidence and we will look to keep the momentum going,” added the batter.

After Kishan’s departure, Ayub pulled Pakistan back into the contest. Suryakumar and Varma raised a 38-run stand, before Ayub accounted for Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya (0) off consecutive deliveries. Shivam Dube survived the hat-trick ball and played an important 27 off 17 balls. Dube and Suryakumar took the side past the 150-run mark before Tariq dismissed Suryakumar (32 off 29 balls).

After using up all the spinners, the Pakistani skipper brought back Afridi for the final over but Dube and Rinku Singh tore into him and pushed India to 175.

After his surprising decision to bowl first, Pakistan skipper Agha gave the ball to six spinners, who bowled 18 overs. The strategy did not work wonders, though, as Kishan’s early onslaught along with some intelligent hitting from the middle-order never let the bowlers tighten the flow of runs.

On other hand, India started with Jasprit Bumrah (2/17) and Hardik Pandya (2/16) and the two seasoned pacers dismissed the big-hitting Sahibzada Farhan, Ayub and Agha to rock Pakistan early. Thereafter, spinners Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy kept the batters in check while picking up wickets to earn India a big win.