Pakistan need to chase down 176 after India posted a record-highest total of 175/7 in India-Pakistan T20 World Cup matches. Ishan Kishan set the tone with a smoking 77-run knock off just 40 balls before sizeable contributions from Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh in the end ensured India put up a challenging score on the board.
India were motoring along well, with a solid partnership brewing between Suryakumar and Tilak Varma. However, once Gautam Gambhir had a pretty strong animated chat with the two batters, right after the break, India lost two wickets in two balls, losing Tilak and the dangerous Hardik Pandya, for a first-ball duck.
Despite wickets falling, India continue to score at a 9-10 runs per over. Pakistan’s fielding error didn’t help their cause, with Shadab Khan gifting Suryakumar an easy four and another fielder failing to spot the ball. Usman Tariq, the much-talked-about spinner, finished with 4/24.
Ishan Kishan’s fine innings ended at 77, but not before he cracked the code for India and spiked the run-rate at almost 10 an over. Ishan was in some marauding form. The left-handed opener blasted a 27-ball fifty to calm Indian nerves after a wicket in the first over. This is his second consecutive half-century, following the 61-run blitz against Namibia three nights ago. Ishan took boundaries off Shaheen, Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed. The Men in Blue lost Abhishek Sharma without scoring, but India scored at a decent rate, even as Pakistan tried to slow them down by introducing different spinners.
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