Abhishek Sharma, Gill power India to six-wicket win against Pakistan in Asia Cup clash
Abhishek Sharma was equal parts brutal and brilliant in his scintillating 74 as India eased through a tricky chase, winning a fiery Super 4 Asia Cup clash against Pakistan by six wickets on Sunday.
India got off to a strong start, dominating from the outset with a 105-run opening partnership in the first 10 overs that left Pakistan struggling to keep up.
Sharma’s brilliant innings, featuring five sixes and six fours, included a quickfire 24-ball half-century and put India in complete control of the 172-run chase.
Pakistan finally got a breakthrough in the tenth over when Faheem Ashraf bowled Shubman Gill, who fell just three runs short of a fifty. Suryakumar Yadav, who came in after him, was dismissed quickly without adding to the total.
Tilak Varma (30* off 19) and Hardik Pandya (7* off 7) guided India across the finish line with seven balls to spare. Haris Rauf took two wickets for Pakistan, while Abrar Ahmed and Ashraf claimed one each.
The match also saw moments of on-field tension. Gill argued with Shaheen Afridi after hitting him for two fours in the fourth over, while Sharma showed visible frustration during an altercation with Haris Rauf.
Earlier, Pakistan set a target of 171 against India.
Sahibzada Farhan top-scored with a quickfire 58, while Shivam Dube was India’s most effective bowler, taking two key wickets.
Dube grabbed the wickets of Farhan (58 off 45 balls) and Saim Ayub (21 off 17 balls), who had stitched together a valuable 72-run partnership for the second wicket, to stop the run flow after Pakistan had scored 91/1 at the halfway mark of their innings.
Dube broke the stand in the 11th over by dismissing Ayub to leave Pakistan at 93/2 before he got rid of Farhan in the 15th over to have the opponents in trouble at 115/4.
Mohammad Nawaz (21) and Faheem Ashraf (20 not out) were the other notable contributors for Pakistan.
India’s fielding mistakes helped Pakistan, with Abhishek Sharma dropping two catches, Kuldeep Yadav missing one, and Shubman Gill spilling another late on, allowing Pakistan to post 171/5 in 20 overs.
Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep each claimed one wicket for India.
Off the field, captain Suryakumar Yadav reignited fresh controversy by refusing to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Agha once again after winning the toss and choosing to bowl.
The league match between the two neighbours had also seen the captains skip the handshake.
India had brought back pacer Jasprit Bumrah and spinner Varun Chakravarthy in place of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh from the last match.
Teams
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.