COLOMBO: Ishan Kishan’s quick-fire 77, followed by a dominant bowling attack, helped India defeat Pakistan in the blockbuster match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium.
IND 114 (18 Overs)
17.6: Usman Tariq 0 (3)
Tariq backs away and then makes a feeble attempt at a back-foot punch. The ball breezes past the outside edge and then rattles into the stumps.
Hardik Pandya to bowl
IND 106/9 (17 Overs)
Rinku Singh to bowl now
IND 97/9 (16 Overs)
15.4: Abrar Ahmed 0 (1)
Googly on the back of a length just outside off. Abrar has no clue about it. The ball jams him on the pad right in front.
15.3: Faheem Ashraf 10 (14)
Faheem chances his arm, but the ball is well inside the deep mid-wicket fence, and Rinku was never going to drop that.
Varun Chakravarthy returns
IND 94/7 (15 Overs)
Tilak Varma continues
IND 89/7 (14 Overs)
Kuldeep Yadav continues
IND 84/7 (13 Overs)
12.1: Shadab Khan 14 (15)
Shadab thinks he can smash this into the ocean, but slices across it way too much, and Dube settles under it at long off to hand Tilak a wicket.
Tilak Varma gets the ball
IND 78/6 (12 Overs)
11.4: Mohammad Nawaz 4 (5)
Nawaz tries to shovel it away, but the shot lacks the power to clear the fence. Shivam Dube moves a little to his right and pouches it.
Kuldeep Yadav continues
IND 73/5 (11 Overs)
10.4: Usman Khan 44 (34)
Usman steps out of his crease and is nowhere close to the pitch of the ball; the wicket-keeper whipped off the bails.
Axar Patel continues
IND 71/4 (10 Overs)
Kuldeep Yadav comes to bowl
IND 66/4 (9 Overs)
Axar Patel continues
IND 57/4 (8 Overs)
Varun Chakravarthy continues
IND 47/4 (7 Overs)
Axar Patel continues
IND 38/4 (6 Overs)
Varun Chakravarthy comes to bowl
IND 34/4 (5 Overs)
4.5: Babar Azam 5 (7)
Babar has a massive slog at it and gets nowhere close to the ball, which also comes in with the arm.
Axar Patel replaces Hardik Pandya
IND 25/3 (4 Overs)
Bumrah continues
IND 21/3 (3 Overs)
Hardik Pandya continues
IND 13/3 (2 Overs)
1.6: Salman Ali Agha 4 (4)
Salman tries to pick this up and dump it over mid wicket, but the shape is all wrong, and mid on cannot believe the offering that has come his way.
1.2: Saim Ayub 6 (2)
In-swinging yorker, starting on middle and then swerving in. Ayub seems to fall across and then plays all around it. The bat is nowhere near the ball as it kisses the front pad first.
Jasprit Bumrah to bowl the second over
IND 0/1 (1 Over)
0.4: Sahibzada Farhan 0 (4)
Dug in short outside off and Farhan, after three dot balls, feels the pinch to get one away, and Rinku, stationed at mid on, makes no mistake.
Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub come out to open the innings for Pakistan, while Hardik Pandya is taking the new ball for Team India.
PAKISTAN vs INDIA (1st INNINGS)
COLOMBO: Ishan Kishan’s quick-fire 77 helped India post against Pakistan in the blockbuster match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium.
IND 175/7 (20 Overs)
19.6: Axar Patel 0 (1)
The bat face closes upon impact, and Axar arrows it towards deep mid wicket, where Ayub runs in and gobbles up the chance smartly.
19.5: Shivam Dube 27 (17)
There is some confusion between the batters, and the end result is that Dube has been run out.
Shaheen Afridi to bowl the final over
IND 159/5 (19 Overs)
18.5: Suryakumar Yadav 32 (29)
Tossed up on a length on middle and off, SKY looks for the slog sweep but has no pace to work with. Saim Ayub pockets an easy catch!
Usman Tariq to bowl the penultimate over
IND 154/4 (18 Overs)
Abrar Ahmed returns
IND 140/4 (17 Overs)
Usman Tariq returns
IND 136/4 (16 Overs)
Mohammad Nawaz continues
IND 127/4 (15 Overs)
14.3: Hardik Pandya 0 (1)
Hardik goes a mile up, and he bites the dust as the ball safely lands in the hands of Babar Azam.
14.2: Tilak Varma 25 (24)
Zipped in full on the middle stump, Tilak looks to tonk it into tomorrow via a slog sweep but misses it completely as the ball comes in with the arm.
Saim Ayub returns to the attack
IND 125/2 (14 Overs)
Mohammad Nawaz continues
IND 118/2 (13 Overs)
Usman Tariq continues
IND 108/2 (12 Overs)
Mohammad Nawaz continues
IND 98/2 (11 Overs)
Usman Tariq replaces Saim Ayub
IND 92/2 (10 Overs)
Mohammad Nawaz comes onto the bowl
IND 89/2 (9 Overs)
8.4: Ishan Kishan 77 (40)
Kishan backs away, perhaps trying to force the ball through the offside. The ball spins appreciably, sticks in the surface, and the stumps have been rattled.
Saim Ayub returns
IND 82/1 (8 Overs)
Shadab Khan comes onto the attack
IND 65/1 (7 Overs)
Abrar Ahmed continues
IND 52/1 (6 Overs)
Saim Ayub continues
IND 41/1 (5 Overs)
Abrar Ahmed replaces Salman Ali Agha
IND 30/1 (4 Overs)
Saim Ayub replaces Shaheen Afridi in the attack
IND 25/1 (3 Overs)
Salman Ali Agha continues
IND 16/1 (2 Overs)
Shaheen Afridi comes to bowl from the other end
IND 1/1 (1 Over)
0.6: Abhishek Sharma 0 (4)
Darted in on the back of a length on middle and leg. Skids on and gets a little big on Abhishek. He has a hack at it, but all he musters is a tame chip to Shaheen.
Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan come out to open the innings for India, while skipper Salman Ali Agha is taking the new ball for the Green Shirts.
PAKISTAN vs INDIA (1st INNINGS)
COLOMBO: Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first against arch-rivals India in the blockbuster match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Tariq and Abrar Ahmed.
India: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
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HEAD TO HEAD
Historically, India have held the upper hand in T20 Internationals, winning 13 of the 16 meetings between the two sides, with Pakistan claiming three victories.
Overall matches: 16, India: 12, Pakistan: 3, Tied: 1
In T20 World Cup clashes, India lead 7-1, with one match ending in a tie at the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup.
Both teams enter the contest unbeaten in the group stage. The Green Shirts have secured wins over the Netherlands and the USA, while India have defeated the USA and Namibia.
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