A 105-run opening stand between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill helped defending champions India beat Pakistan by six wickets in their Asia Cup Super Four match, a second victory over their archrivals in the Twenty20 cricket tournament.
Put in to bat first in the match on Sunday, Pakistan set India a target of 172, which they reached with seven balls remaining.
There was no handshake between the teams’ players yet again, with the match played amid lingering tensions between the two nations in the wake of a military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.
There was clear tension between both sets of players it threatened to bubble over in India’s innings as Pakistan’s fast bowler Haris Rauf appeared to exchage heated words with Sharma and Gill.
Put in to bat first, Pakistan had a 72-run partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub for the second wicket that laid the foundation for its innings after Fakhar Zaman (15) fell early.
Farhan, who was dropped in the first over by Sharma, completed his half-century in 34 balls, steering Pakistan to 91-1 after 10 overs.
But Pakistan could not hit a single boundary in the next six overs as Ayub (21), Hussain Talat (10) and Farhan (58 off 45) got out in quick succession.
Unbeaten knocks from captain Salman Ali Agha (17 off 13) and Faheem Ashraf (20 off 8) added 42 runs in the last three overs to help Pakistan reach a competitive 171-5.
Sharma announced his intentions by hitting Shaheen Shah Afridi for a six on the first ball, and hit four boundaries and four sixes to complete his half-century in 24 balls.
India seemed to be cruising to a quick victory until Gill (47 off 28) was bowled by Faheem Ashraf in the 10th over.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav fell to Haris Rauf (2-26) for a duck in the very next over, and Sharma (74 off 39) was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed soon after, temporarily throttling India’s chase.
But India, who beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the group stage, still got over the line, with Tilak Varma (30 off 19) hitting Afridi for a six and a four in the final two balls of the innings.
Pakistan will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with both sides looking for their first win in the Super Four, a day before India play Bangladesh, who beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.
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