Ishan Kishan‘s magical knock of 77 off 40 balls helped India in a big way. Ishan Kishan was the star as he single-handedly took the game away from Pakistan. Ishan looked like a man possessed. Put into bat first, India rode on a terrific batting display from Ishan Kishan with Suryakumar Yadav supporting him as well as India did well to post 175/7 in 20 overs.
In reply, India put in an all-round bowling display to dismantle Pakistan, as they picked up 4 wickets in the powerplay and then never looked back. Pakistan misfired big time and faltered. They meekly surrendered and were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. A big margin of 61 run- defeat of Pakistan by India.
Ishan Kishan’s majestic 77 powers India to 175/7
Put into bat first, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma came out to bat for India while Salman Ali Agha had ball in hand for Pakistan. Salman struck in the first over as he picked up Abhishek for a duck when the score was 1. Tilak Varma came out to bat next. What followed next was the Ishan Kishan show as he lit up the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Tilak was a mere spectator but it was Ishan who was putting on a show there.
Kishan plundered the bowling from the first ball. The powerplay score for India despite the early wicket that fell was 52/1 for India. Ishan continued to plunder the bowling and got his fifty in no time and continued to accelerate and at one point he was looking good for a century perhaps. The duo put on 87 runs for the second wicket before Ishan fell for 77 off 40 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Saim Ayub. Captain Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next.
Surya and Tilak took their time as the pitch slowed down as the game progressed. The duo played out the rest of the middle phase as they put on 38 runs for the third wicket before Tilak fell for 25 off 24 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Saim Ayub. Hardik Pandya came in and fell first ball for a golden duck as Ayub got two in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Shivam Dube came out to bat next and survived the hat-trick ball.
Surya and Dube realised it was a tough pitch now and so the rate dropped a lot but India kept it together. Surya played a sensible knock while Dube took time to get in but played his shots as well. The duo of Surya and Dube put on 33 runs for the 5th wicket before the captain Surya fell for 32 off 29 balls with 3 fours to his name to Usman Tariq. Rinku Singh came out to bat next.
Dube played his shots and Rinku also chipped in with a boundary and a maximum. Dube was looking good. The duo added 16 runs to the tally before Dube was run out for a well made 27 off 17 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name. Axar Patel came out to bat and went for the big one and was holed out in the deep for a golden duck. Rinku remained unbeaten on 11 off 4 balls with one four and one six to his name as India finished with 175/7 in 20 overs. Just 3 extras given by Pakistan.
Saim Ayub was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 3/25 in 4 overs. Salman Ali Agha finished with 1/10 in 2 overs. Shaheen Afridi finished with 1/31 in 2 overs. Usman Tariq finished with 1/24 in 4 overs. Abrar Ahmed finished with 0/38 in 3 overs. Shadab Khan went for 17 runs in one over. Mohammad Nawaz went for 28 in 4 overs. So, this meant Pakistan needed 176 runs to win off 20 overs.
All-Round Bowling Performance Helps India To An Easy Win by 61 runs
Chasing 176 for the win, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub came out to open the batting for Pakistan. Hardik Pandya had ball in hand for India. Hardilk struck in the first over as he dismissed Farhan for a duck. Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next. Ayub managed to hit a maximum off Bumrah of a top edge but the bowler hit back getting rid of Ayub for 6 off 2 balls with a maximum to his name. The review was lost as well by him. Babar Azam came out to bat next.
Another 7 runs were added to the score before Salman fell for 4 off 4 balls with one boundary to his name. Usman Khan came out to bat next. Usman was quickly off the blocks and took the bowling head on while Babar was not going anywhere with his batting. The duo managed to put on 21 runs for the 4th wicket before Babar Azam fell for 5 off 7 balls clean bowled by Axar Patel.
Shadab Khan came out to bat next. Pakistan were 38/4 in 6 overs of powerplay and were in deep trouble. Usman and Shadab got together with Usman putting on a show and played a defiant knock while Shadab tried to get in as well. The duo put on 39 runs for the 5th wicket before Usman Khan fell for 44 off 34 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name to Axar Patel. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next.
Wickets started to fall again. Just 5 runs were added to the score as Nawaz fell for 4 off 5 balls with one boundary to his name to Kuldeep Yadav. Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next. Another one bit the dust as Shadab fell for 14 off 15 balls with one boundary to his name to Tilak Varma. Shaheen Afridi came out to bat next. Faheem and Shaheen tried to forge a partnership to give some respectability to the score but it was a bridge too far for the Men in Green.
The duo put on 19 runs to take Pakistan forward before Ashraf fell for 10 off 14 balls with one boundary to his name to Varun Chakaravarthy. Abrar Ahmed came out to bat next. Varun got another as Abrar fell for a golden duck and he was on a hat-trick now. Usman Tariq came out to bat next.
Shaheen Afridi continued to play his shots even as some catches were dropped by India. The duo added 17 runs for the last wicket before Tariq fell for a bronze duck to Hardik Pandya. Afridi remained unbeaten on 23 off 19 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name as Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
The Indian bowlers bowled really well out there. Hardik Pandya finished with 2/16 in 3 overs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 2/17 in 3 overs. Axar Patel finished with 2/29 in 4 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy finished with 2/17 in 3 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 1/14 in 3 overs. Tilak Varma finished with 1/11 in 2 overs. Rinku Singh bowled an over for 9 runs. So, India win by 61 runs and qualify for Super 8s. Ishan Kishan was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, India with this win are officially through to the Super 8s stage and will play Netherlands in their last group A game in Ahmedabad while Pakistan will face Namibia on Wednesday only at the SSC in Colombo. Pakistan will need to beat Namibia to qualify for the super 8s.
More action coming our way on Monday at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. First-up it is Afghanistan vs UAE live at 11 AM IST live from New Delhi in a Group D clash. This will be followed by England up against Italy live from Kolkata at 3 PM IST in a Group C clash. Later on, it is our feature game as Australia takes on Sri Lanka at 7 PM IST live from Pallekele in a Group B clash in a must-win game for the Aussies.
So, a lot to look forward to as we head to the business stage of the tournament now.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: India Run Through Pakistan Top Order