After posting 175 for seven, Suryakumar Yadav’s men bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs. The pursuit was in a shambles when Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and captain Salman Agha were back in the hut with a mere 13 on the board. Hardik, with a wicket and a catch, and Bumrah, two wickets in his kitty, were the initial speed-breakers for the rivals.
Pakistan’s woes extended as Babar Azam found Axar Patel sliding one into his stumps. Meanwhile, Usman Khan waged a lone battle, striking cleanly down the ground. But once he succumbed to Axar, with Kishan whipping the bails, Pakistan was down for the count.
Earlier, Salman won the toss, elected to field, and found the mark through his spinning arm. Abhishek Sharma, back in the Indian playing eleven, miscued a pull and India was one for one after the first over.
But there were no premature nerves as Kishan (77, 40b, 10×4, 3×6) smote pacer Shaheen Afridi’s first ball for six. The opener played his shots with conviction, and even when a few edges raced past the ropes, he refused to turn conservative. The southpaw remained busy, pulling, gliding, hoisting and driving past his 50 as no part of the ground was beyond his reach.
A spin-heavy Pakistan attack struggled to stifle Kishan while his partner Tilak Varma stayed on 10 for a while. Having reverse-hit Saim, Kishan tried to force one on the off-side and got castled but by then he had set a strong base for India. A bustling Suryakumar hit a four off Usman Tariq, Tilak exhaled with a six off Mohammad Nawaz and India cruised.
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A brief stutter occurred when Tilak and Hardik fell off successive deliveries against Saim. Shivam Dube averted the hat-trick and along with his leader, eased into a partnership based on singles and elevated by the odd four and six.
Even after Suryakumar fell to Tariq, Dube remained busy and despite India losing two more batters in the death, there was enough and more to stay ahead of Pakistan for the rest of the night.
The scores.
India: Ishan Kishan b Ayub 77 (40b, 10×4, 3×6), Abhishek Sharma c Shaheen b Salman 0 (4b), Tilak Varma lbw b Saim 25 (24b, 2×4, 1×6), Suryakumar Yadav c Saim b Tariq 32 (29b, 3×4), Hardik Pandya c Babar b Saim 0 (1b), Shivam Dube (run out) 27 (17b, 3×4, 1×6), Rinku Singh (not out) 11 (4b, 1×4, 1×6), Axar Patel c Saim b Shaheen 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Abhishek, 0.6 overs), 2-88 (Kishan, 8.4), 3-126 (Tilak, 14.2), 4-126 (Hardik, 14.3), 5-159 (Suryakumar, 18.5), 6-175 (Dubey, 19.5), 7-175 (Axar, 19.6).
Pakistan bowling: Salman 2-0-10-1, Shaheen 2-0-31-1, Saim 4-0-25-3, Abrar 3-0-38-0, Shadab 1-0-17-0, Nawaz 4-0-28-0, Tariq 4-0-24-1.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan c Rinku b Hardik 0 (4b), Saim Ayub lbw b Bumrah 6 (2b, 1×6), Salman Agha c Hardik b Bumrah 4 (4b, 1×4), Babar Azam b Axar 5 (7b), Usman Khan st Kishan b Axar 44 (34b, 6×4, 1×6), Shadab Khan c Dube b Tilak 14 (15b, 1×4), Mohammad Nawaz c Dube b Kuldeep 4 (5b, 1×4), Faheem Ashraf c Rinku b Varun 10 (14b, 1×4), Shaheen Afridi (not out) 23 (19b, 2×4, 1×6), Abrar Ahmed b Varun 0 (1b), Usman Tariq b Hardik 0 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (all out in 18 overs): 114.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Farhan, 0.4 overs), 2-6 (Ayub, 1.2), 3-13 (Salman, 1.6), 4-34 (Babar, 4.5), 5-73 (Usman, 10.4), 6-76 (Nawaz, 11.4), 7-78 (Shadab, 12.1), 8-97 (Faheem, 15.3), 9-97 (Abrar, 15.4).
India bowling: Hardik 3-1-16-2, Bumrah 2-0-17-2, Axar 4-0-29-2, Varun 3-0-17-2, Kuldeep 3-0-14-1, Tilak 2-0-6-1, Rinku 1-0-9-0.
Published on Feb 15, 2026
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