After Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and opted to bowl, India suffered an early blow as Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck in the opening over. However, opener Ishan Kishan counterattacked in stunning fashion, taking on Pakistan’s spin-heavy Powerplay with fearless stroke play.
Kishan brought up a blistering half-century in just 27 balls—the third-fastest fifty in India-Pakistan T20I history—and went on to score 77 off 40 deliveries, striking 10 boundaries and three sixes. At 88/1 in the ninth over, India appeared set for a total in excess of 200.
Pakistan fought back strongly through Saim Ayub, who turned the game with an impressive spell of 3/25. Ayub dismissed Kishan to break a threatening stand before removing Tilak Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya (0) off successive deliveries. Extracting sharp turn from the tacky surface, Ayub’s variations restricted India’s middle order as stroke-making became increasingly difficult.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav steadied the innings with a composed 32 off 24 balls, while late contributions from Shivam Dube (27) and a brief cameo from Rinku Singh ensured India posted a challenging total.
The final over saw Shaheen Shah Afridi dismiss Axar Patel off the last ball, preventing India from adding further late runs.
With the pitch expected to assist spinners, India will bank on their slow-bowling unit to defend the target in what promises to be a gripping second innings.
