Dubai: India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets to lift the Asia Cup title at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 147 runs to win, India reached the target in 19.4 overs losing 5 wickets.
India lost in-form Abhishek Sharma (5) in the second over. Captain Suryakumar Yadav (1) went back in the next over. They looked in trouble when Shubman Gill (12) was claimed by Faheem Ashraf in the fourth over when the score was 20. Sanju Samson (24) and Tilak Varma added 57 runs from 50 balls to set up the victory.
Tilak set up another vital partnership with Shivam Dube. They needed 17 runs from two overs. Dube, after scoring 33 off 22 balls, was caught near the boudary line in the last ball of the 19th over. He added 60 runs with Tilak.
Pacer Haris Rauf bowled the last over as India needed 10 runs. Tilak scored a brace in the first ball and then hit an over boundary in the next. Finally Rinku Singh scored the winning run. Tilak remained unbeaten at 69 runs from 53 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav yet again led India’s charge with a four-wicket haul, including three scalps in the 17th over, as India produced a stunning turnaround to bowl out Pakistan for 146 in 19.1 overs.
In front of a packed crowd, Pakistan had raced to 113/1 in 12.4 overs and looked like a getting a 180-plus total. But in the face of India’s crafty spinners, who took eight wickets collectively, Pakistan’s batting unravelled in spectacular fashion.
Batters repeatedly attempted aerial shots and perished in an abysmal manner, as they lost their last nine wickets for just 33 runs to squander the early momentum they had. Kuldeep, who went from 23 runs in his first two overs to picking four wickets for just seven runs in his next two overs, was well-supported by Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy taking two wickets each.
Pushed into batting first, despite some swing in offer for Bumrah and Shivam Dube, Pakistan came out swinging in the first three overs, with Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman committing fully to the idea of quick runs, something which fetched them three boundaries.
Farhan took on Bumrah by dispatching him for a four and a six, but it was offset by Chakaravarthy and Patel offering control, as Pakistan ended power-play at 45/0. Farhan kept the boundaries going by rocking back to pull Kuldeep for six, before slogging Axar for four and then brought up his fifty in 35 balls.
After Farhan lofted Chakaravarthy over long-on for six, the spinner bounced back by having the batter hole out to deep mid-wicket for 57 and break the 84-run opening stand. Saim Ayub took two easy boundaries off Dube, before slicing to backward point off Kuldeep for 14.
After that, Pakistan began to lose their way: - Mohammad Haris chipped straight to mid-off against Axar, while Zaman went for one shot too many and was caught at backward point off Chakaravarthy.
Sanju Samson held on to catches of Hussain Talat and Salman Agha off Axar and Kuldeep respectively, even as the latter trapped Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw and had Faheem Ashraf holing out to long-off. Bumrah came in to uproot Haris Rauf’s off-stump and had Mohammad Nawaz hole out to deep mid-wicket to end Pakistan’s innings under 150.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 146 in 19.1 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 57, Fakhar Zaman 46; Kuldeep Yadav 4-30, Jasprit Bumrah 2-25) lost to India 150/5 in 19.4 overs (Tilak Varma 69no, Shivam Dube 33, Sanju Samson 24, Faheem Ashraf 3/29). Agencies
Also Read: Premier League Club West Ham United Sacks Head Coach Graham Potter
Also Watch: