Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin struck early, leaving Pakistan reeling, and captain Suryakumar Yadav delivered a composed captain’s innings to deepen their woes. Abhishek Sharma set the tone with his characteristic flamboyance, targeting Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi from the very first over, smashing a four and a six. Shubman Gill joined the attack, taking on part-timer Saim Ayub with confident strokes. However, Gill’s aggressive approach backfired when a carrom-ball caught him out, leaving him stumped for 10 off 7.
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Unfazed, Abhishek continued his assault, hitting Shaheen for a towering six and following it with back-to-back boundaries off Ayub before falling for 31 off 13, caught trying to go big against a slower delivery. Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav then steadied the innings, negating the spin threat. Tilak displayed a mix of orthodox and unorthodox shots, finding the boundary in the ninth over, while Suryakumar settled in with an elegant back-cut. A reprieve came for Tilak when Mohammad Nawaz dropped a sitter on 30, but he could not capitalize, falling to Ayub on 31.
Suryakumar carried the chase with powerful strokes, and Shivam Dube added fireworks with a 90m six. The Indian captain sealed the win with a massive slog sweep, finishing unbeaten on 47 off 37 balls, while Dube remained not out on 10 off 7, wrapping up a clinical seven-wicket triumph.
Earlier, Shaheen Afridi’s 33* off 16 balls provided Pakistan’s only spark. Opting to bat first, Pakistan suffered early blows as Saim Ayub fell for a golden duck to Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Haris was removed by Jasprit Bumrah for three. Despite Farhan and Fakhar Zaman briefly boosting the scoreboard, Pakistan ended the powerplay at 42/2 and continued to crumble under India’s disciplined bowling.
Kuldeep Yadav dealt a double blow, removing Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Nawaz in consecutive deliveries, while Farhan’s 40 off 44 balls proved the lone resistance. Shaheen Afridi’s counterattack, including sixes off Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, was insufficient. Axar Patel and Chakaravarthy cleaned up the rest, leaving Pakistan struggling to 127 all out.
India’s comprehensive win highlighted their dominance across batting, bowling, and fielding, leaving Pakistan to regroup ahead of their next Asia Cup clash.
