Colombo: Ishan Kishan blended brute power with silken finesse in a breathtaking half-century before Jasprit Bumrah tore through Pakistan’s top order with menacing precision, powering India to a commanding 61-run win and a Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
Kishan’s supersonic 77 (40b) on a tacky Premadasa pitch was worth its weight in gold, carrying India to a competitive 175 for seven after they were asked to bat first. It was easily one of the most entertaining T20I knocks by an Indian batter if one factors in degree of difficulty.
Pakistan needed a strong Power Play segment to chase 176 on this surface. But Bumrah (2/17) and Hardik Pandya (2/16) jettisoned big-hitting Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha to bowl out them for 114, reducing the much-anticipated match into a no-contest. India now lead 8-1 in all T20 World Cup encounters.
Pandya started the bedlam in the first over of Pakistan’s chase, as his snorter got big on Farhan and he could only sky it to Rinku Singh.
