India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in Group A of the T20 World Cup Cricket, with Ishan Kishan smashing Colombo’s tricky delivery for 77.
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Published February 15, 2026
Defending champions India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in the grudge match in Group A of the Twenty20 World Cup to secure a place in the Super 8 stage of the cricket tournament.
Ishan Kishan’s astonishing 77 points pushed India to 175-7 at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday as Pakistan’s spin-heavy attack managed to put the brakes on after the dismissal of their opener.
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The co-hosts of the tournament once again defeated Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs to record their third consecutive win.
The match took place after Pakistan reversed its decision to boycott the match in solidarity with Bangladesh, with the Bangladeshi team refusing to tour India due to safety concerns and Scotland taking their place.
However, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and India’s Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands upon raising the toss.
India were bolstered by the return of Abhishek Sharma, who missed the first two matches with a stomach infection. However, they were unable to score the opening goal.
Pakistan’s Salman came up with a surprise by initiating the attack himself and the move paid off as the spinner trapped LBW Abhishek and eliminated the reigning number one batsman in T20 Internationals.
Pakistan tried to use three spinners in the powerplay to stem the flow of boundaries, but India’s score of 52-1 after six overs suggested that the ploy was somewhat successful.
But Kishan could not be deterred and the diminutive southpaw cut into Pakistan’s attack with his take-no-prisoners batting.
The opening pitcher reached 50 pitches for the second consecutive year in the tournament with only 27 pitches.
Saim Ayub stopped Kishan’s 40-ball flurry, but India were 92 for 2 midway through the innings.
Ayub (3-25) ousted Tilak Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya with back-to-back goals to bring the heat back to India.
Suryakumar (32 years old) and Shivam Dube (27 years old) were unable to perform in the second half to help India surpass the 200-point mark, which at one point seemed within reach.
Pakistan became the first team to field six spinners in a T20 World Cup match, but the joy of restricting India to a sub-200 quickly faded as India slumped to 13-3 from two overs.
Manager Pandya removed Pakistan’s in-form opener Sahibzada Farhan for a duck, while manager Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ayub and Salman in the same over to push Pakistan into a corner.
Babar Azam (5) didn’t last long as Pakistan were gasping for breath at 38-4 after six overs of powerplay.
Usman Khan, 44, rebelled against India for a while, but Axar Patel lured him out and embarrassed him, effectively erasing Pakistan’s unlikely chances of victory.
