Although Team India faced a slightly greater target than their Group stage match against Pakistan, they still razed the total comfortably to win the Super 4 bout over their arch-rivals on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. Openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma shared an explosive partnership of 105 to set the base for the Men in Blue for a crushing victory, chasing down 172 with six wickets to spare.
Earlier, in the night, the toss had gone in favour of Suryakumar Yadav and he opted to bowl first, citing the track record of run-chases at the venue. By contrast to their approach in the Group stage encounter, the Men in Green played aggressively, with Fakhar Zaman clattering two boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah's over.
But Hardik Pandya got the better of Zaman, deceiving the left-hander with the slower delivery as a touch-and-go decision from the third umpire went India's way. However, Pakistan didn't rest there and went further on the attack, with Farhan bring up his half-century off 34 deliveries. But they significantly slowed down following the wicket of Ayub for 21. Farhan fell for 58 off 45 deliveries after losing his bat while going for an almighty slog.
Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy weren't at their best but largely slowed down Pakistan's run-scoring. Faheem Ashraf's unbeaten 20 off 8, laced with a couple of sixes went a long way in the total of 171/5.
Abhishek Sharma welcomes Shaheen Shah Afridi with a first-ball six
Abhishek, who made a destructive 74 off 39 deliveries, made a start to a stiff run-chase by hammering a six over fine leg. Gill and Abhishek put Pakistan bowlers to the sword by playing some imperious strokes. The left-hander needed only 24 balls to reach his fifty but Gill fell for 47.
Haris Rauf dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for a duck as Pakistan threatened to pull off a heist after getting the better of Abhishek for 74 and Sanju Samson for 13. However, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma made sure that India crosses the line comfortably.
