DUBAI: – Kuldeep Yadav’s guile and Axar Patel’s precision left Pakistan’s batting unit clueless as India cruised to a dominant seven-wicket win in a one-sided Asia Cup clash on Sunday.
Calls to boycott the match over the Pahalgam terror attack in April did little to dent attendance, with an 85% Indian-dominated crowd witnessing Pakistan’s clinical dismantling. To add to the drama, Indian players refrained from shaking hands with their counterparts — both at the toss and after the match — even as skipper Suryakumar Yadav sealed victory with a six.
Spinners Axar (2/18), Kuldeep (3/18) and Varun (1/24) choked Pakistan with relentless accuracy, sharing six wickets and 40 dot balls. Backed by Jasprit Bumrah (2/28, 15 dot balls), India ensured Pakistan limped to just 127/9 — at least 50 runs short of par. Only Shaheen Afridi’s late fireworks (33* off 16) lifted the score past 125.
In reply, Abhishek Sharma (31 off 13) tore into Shaheen with audacious strokes before Suryakumar (47* off 37) and Tilak Varma (31 off 31) calmly finished the chase in just 15.5 overs.
Pakistan’s struggles began from the first over, when Hardik Pandya (1/34) and Bumrah removed openers Saim Ayub (0) and Mohammad Haris (3). Despite Sahibzada Farhan’s fighting 40, Pakistan’s middle-order collapsed against spin, undone by poor shot selection and lack of technique. Fakhar Zaman (17) briefly countered Axar but fell at long-on, while Salman Ali Agha, Hasan Nawaz, and Mohammed Nawaz perished to rash slog attempts.
India’s spinners proved too good, and Pakistan’s woes against their arch-rivals in multi-nation tournaments continued.
Brief Scores:
- Pakistan: 127/9 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 40, Shaheen Afridi 33*; Kuldeep 3/18, Axar 2/18)
- India: 131/3 in 15.5 overs (Suryakumar 47*, Abhishek Sharma 31, Tilak Varma 31; Saim Ayub 3/35)
