The India v Pakistan rivalry in T20 World Cups now stand at 8-1.
India and Pakistan clashed in a much-hyped ICC T20 World Cup 2026 match 27 in Group A on February 15, 2026. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Abhishek Sharma fell for his second duck in this tournament, but it was Ishan Kishan who smacked Pakistan bowlers to all parts of the SSC Colombo ground. He made 77 runs in 40 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes.
It seemed like he was batting on a completely different surface, as after his dismissal, Indian batters struggled to score fluent runs. Suryakumar Yadav (32), Tilak Varma (25), and Shivam Dube (27) took India to an above-par score of 175/7 in 20 overs. Saim Ayub picked 3/25 for Pakistan, who bowled six spinners in the match.
Much was expected from the famed and talented Pakistani batting lineup, but Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya had other ideas. Sahibzada Farhan fell for a duck in the first over to Hardik Pandya, and Saim Ayub and Salman Agha were dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah in his first over.
Babar Azam, the highest run-getter in T20Is, failed to consolidate and fell for 5 runs to Axar Patel. Usman Khan (44) and Shadab Khan (14) had a decent partnership, but the rising required run rate meant that Pakistan kept losing wickets regularly.
In the end, Shaheen Afridi’s 23* took Pakistan to 114 runs in 18 overs, as India won the game by 61 runs. With this win, which was the third one for India in Group A, they qualified for the Super Eights round as well.
Ishan Kishan won the Player of the Match for his 77 runs, and he, along with the rest of the Indian team, was praised by the cricket fraternity on social media.
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