India beat Pakistan by six wickets in the T20I Asia Cup Super Fours match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sunday evening.
Chasing a decent 172-run target for victory, India crossed the finish line with six wickets in hand and seven balls to spare.
Abhishek Sharma was the highest scorer for the winning side with 74 off 39 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes. He provided a solid and brisk start with a 105-run opening partnership with Shubman Gill. Shubman contributed 47 off 28 balls. The prolific opener hit eight boundaries.
Tilak Varma made an unbeaten 30 off 19 balls, hitting two fours and two maximums. Sanju Samson contributed 13 off 17 balls.
Haris Rauf took two wickets, while Abrar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf got one wicket apiece. Match committee named Abhishek Sharma player of the match.
After being put into bat first by Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Pakistan reached 171/5 in the allocated 20 overs.
Pakistan Innings:
Opener Sahibzada Farhan was the top scorer for the Green shirts with 58 off 45, laced with five fours and three maximums. Saim Ayub and Mohammad Nawaz contributed 21 each. Faheem Ashraf added a valuable unbeaten 20 off eight balls. Faheem hit one four and two sixes in the death overs to take the team score over the 170-run mark.
Skipper Salman Ali Agha made an unbeaten 17 off 13 balls. Fakhar Zaman scored 15 off nine balls and Hussain Talat 10 off 11 balls. Shivam Dube bagged two wickets, and Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav one each. Mohammad Nawaz went back and was run out in the penultimate over.
Like the previous game, the captains did not shake hands. Suryakumar Yadav said that the presence of dew during the training session last night prompted the decision to bat first. India has brought back Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy in the playing eleven.
Salman Ali Agha said that he, too, would have gone for the option of batting first. He said that the Green shirts were ready to play positive cricket. Pakistan has made two changes, bringing back Faheem Ashraf and Hussain Talat in place of Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah.
Pakistan Playing XI: 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt.), 5 Mohammad Haris (wk), 6 Hussain Talat, 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed
India Playing XI: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel. 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
