(Image source from: x.com/BCCI)
India increased their win record over Pakistan to 11-3 in T20 matches with an easy seven-wicket victory in the first of three possible games at the Asia Cup. From the very beginning, it was clear which team was in control after Hardik Pandya dismissed Saim Ayub with the first legal delivery. India's strong bowling lineup overwhelmed Pakistan, forcing them to play risky shots just to keep up the scoring. Ultimately, 63 balls went without any runs, and they only managed to score at a rate over a run a ball in the final over, with 128 hardly posing a challenge for a powerful Indian batting team. Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel each took two, while Hardik and Varun Chakravarthy grabbed one each in a relentless performance. Hardik, taking the new ball before Bumrah, began with a loose toss but Ayub hit it right to Bumrah at backward point. In the following over, Mohammad Haris attempted to take charge against Bumrah but ended up getting caught by Hardik at long leg.
On the other hand, Sahibzada Farhan accomplished something no Pakistani had ever done: hitting a six off Bumrah in an international game. He then hit another six in the last over of the powerplay, becoming only the sixth player to hit more than one six off Bumrah in all T20 matches. Nonetheless, 42 for 2 was still a very low score for the powerplay. This marked Pakistan's last moment of happiness for quite a while. The group of Varun, Kuldeep, and Axar quickly shut down all scoring after the powerplay. It took Pakistan 31 balls to manage their first boundary post powerplay. During this period, they only scored 12 runs and lost two wickets. Both wickets fell due to desperate shots, with Fakhar Zaman and Salman Agha getting out. These wickets came from risky attempts, but Kuldeep then went on to dismiss Mohammad Nawaz for a golden duck with his wrong’un, leaving him on a hat-trick.
Pakistan's difficulties were highlighted when their top-performing batsman, Farhan, went into the final overs on 40 off 43 but got out on the first ball of that stage. Shaheen Shah Afridi quickly took that role from Farhan with some effective hitting, scoring a personal best of 33 not out off 16 balls and providing a glimmer of hope for Pakistan. However, that small hope was quickly dashed by Abhishek Sharma, who struck Afridi's first ball back for four, followed by another for a six over long-off. Shubman Gill also hit consecutive boundaries off Ayub. While Ayub took revenge by dismissing both openers, India sped ahead to 41 for 2 in just 3.4 overs.
India found it difficult to score freely after their second-best powerplay against Pakistan ended, but the difference in skill between the two teams was still clear. Pakistan’s bowling was not as challenging as India’s, allowing the Indian batsmen to keep making runs. The first seven overs that followed the powerplay yielded only 39 runs along with Tilak Varma's dismissal, yet India was still in a strong position. It required just a little extra effort from Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube to secure the victory with 4.1 overs remaining.
