Colombo: Opener Ishan Kishan’s supersonic half-century helped India ace a tacky pitch and post a competitive 175 for seven against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup match Sunday.
Kishan (77, 40b) shared an 87-run alliance with Tilak Varma in which the latter’s contribution was a princely 11, after India were asked to bat first.
The match, which had several preceding dramatic weeks because of the admixture of sports and politics, started off in an unusual note as Pakistan skipper Salman Agha brought himself on for off-spin and accounted for Abhishek Sharma.
The off-spin continued through Saim Ayub (3/25) in the power play, and it fetched the desired result initially.
Abhishek went for a loft off Agha but could not clear Shaheen Shah Afridi at the edge of the circle in the final ball of the first over.
For the next 7.4 overs, Kishan converted the Premadasa Stadium into his own little kingdom, shots flying all around the vast corners of this venue.
It seemed as if Kishan was batting on a different track altogether.
The left-hander started with an arrogant chin-high pull off pacer Afridi that thundered into the hoardings beyond the mid-wicket fence.
But that was a mere appetiser. The Jharkhand man soon dismantled an armada of Pakistan spinners.
Agha and Ayub were dispatched for a four each, while leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was carted for a six and four off successive deliveries.
The fourth was a spectacular shot. Despite the slowness of the deck, Kishan lent power and placement to the late cut through his malleable wrists, as the ball sped to the third man fence.
Later, leg-spinner Shadab Khan too was clobbered for a six as Kishan raced to his fifty in just 27 balls, impressive considering the less-than-ideal conditions for shot-making and a skilful opposition, who have already played a couple of matches in this part of the world.
Tilak did not precisely struggle, but did not look entirely comfortable either as Kishan took it upon himself to push the score ahead.
But Kishan’s attempt to give himself space and carve Ayub over mid-wicket had disastrous consequences.
The Indian opener missed the ball altogether to lose the bails as Pakistani players heaved a sigh of relief.
From there, they clawed back bit by bit, and Ayub was at the forefront of their revival.
The offie jettisoned Tilak (25, 24b) and Hardik Pandya (0) off consecutive deliveries as India suddenly slipped to 126 for four from 126 for two in the 15th over.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32, 28b) and Shivam Dube (27, 17b) could not flex their whole muscle but did enough to add 33 runs to take India past the 150-run mark and eventually to a total that will take good chasing.
Dube also handled mystery spinner Usman Tariq, who was kept back till the 11th over, stealing a couple of boundaries.
Tariq, too, had his moment when he priced out Suryakumar in the 19th over.
But a 15-run final over by Afridi, in which Dube and Rinku Singh tore into him pushed India into the 170 territory.
