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DUBAI: Kuldeep Yadav’s three-wicket haul, backed by a dominant batting display powered India to a comprehensive win over Pakistan in the sixth match of the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Set a partly 128-run target, India comfortably knocked the winning runs on the loss of three wickets in 15.5 overs.
India started off with a flyer as Abhishek Sharma made 31 off just 13 balls, striking two sixes and four boundaries. The audacious knock from the left-hander set the tone for the coming batters to milk Pakistan’s bowling attack.
Despite Saim Ayub getting Shubman Gill (`10) and Sharma inside the powerplay, India cruised in the chase untroubled, courtesy of a 56-run stand between Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma.
The duo batted with ease and took India near the total. Verma played a composed a knock of 31 runs from 31 balls with the help of two fours and a six.
Suryakumar, on the other hand, remained unbeaten and finished the match with a towering six. He made 47* off 37 balls, an innings laced with five boundaries and a six.
For Pakistan, Saim Ayub remained the only silver lining in the bowling, picking up three wickets in his four overs.
Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around Pakistan’s batting lineup before Shaheen Afridi’s brisk cameo lifted them to a fighting total against India.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan mustered 127-9 in their allocated 20 overs.
Pakistan failed to capitalize on the decision to bat first as they lost their opening wickets in a heap.
Saim Ayub departed for a golden duck only on the second ball of the match, whereas Mohammad Haris followed him in the second over after scoring three runs.
As a result, Pakistan were in a precarious position of 6-2 in the first two overs.
Following the early wicket, Fakhar Zaman arrived at the crease and tried to stabilize Pakistan’s innings alongside Sahibzada Farhan. The duo batted cautiously and stitched a 39-run stand.
Nonetheless, the stand culminated with Fakhar’s wicket, who was trying to break shackles after a lean powerplay. He made 17 off 15 balls with the help of three fours.
The wicket sparked a collapse that Pakistan could not recover from as India struck at regular intervals until Shaheen Afridi’s brisk cameo later in the innings.
Sahibzada Farhan remained the top scorer for Pakistan, scoring 40 off 44 balls with the help of three sixes and a four, while Shaheen struck an unbeaten 33 off 16 balls, laced with four sixes.
For India, Kuldeep Yadav remained the pick of the bowlers, taking a three-wicket haul. Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah were equally good with their two scalps apiece.
For context, this is the first Pak vs Ind encounter since the May escalation between both countries.
Playing XI’s PAK vs IND Game
India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
Pakistan XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (capt), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
READ: Fakhar Zaman reveals plan to tackle Jasprit Bumrah in Asia Cup 2025 clash
