T20World Cup high voltage clash: India set 176 run target for Pakistan to win

Colombo: In the high voltage T20 World Cup encounter India posted a total of 175 for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs after opting to bat first, setting a challenging target of 176.

Pakistan struck in the very first over, dismissing India’s key batter early. Salman Agha removed Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the opening over, with Shaheen Shah Afridi taking the catch.

India’s second wicket fell at a total of 88 when Ishan Kishan was clean bowled by Saim Ayub after scoring 77 runs off 40 balls, including 3 sixes and 10 fours.

The third wicket went down at 126, as Tilak Varma was trapped LBW by Saim Ayub after making 25 runs. On the very next delivery, Saim Ayub struck again, dismissing Hardik Pandya for a duck.

India’s fifth wicket fell at 159 when Suryakumar Yadav was caught off Usman Tariq after scoring 32 runs.

For Pakistan, Saim Ayub took three wickets, while captain Salman Agha and Usman Tariq claimed one wicket each.

Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and elected to field first against India. After the toss, the Indian captain reportedly did not shake hands with the Pakistani captain, which was described as a breach of the spirit of cricket.

Pakistan Squad:

Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Tariq, Shaheen Afridi, and Abrar Ahmed.

India Squad:

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Mohsin Naqvi, arrived at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium and extended his best wishes to the team.