Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 and won the Player of the Match.
Virat Kohli starred with the bat as he made 82* with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name, taking the Men in Blue all the way after they were 31/4 chasing 160 to win. Hardik Pandya also scored 40 runs, adding 113 runs for the fifth wicket with Kohli, to stabilize the innings.
Earlier Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya took 3 wickets each as Pakistan made 159/8 with Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood scoring half-centuries while captain Babar Azam got out for a golden duck. On the bowling side, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz took two wickets each.
In the final two overs, India needed 31 runs to win and Kohli set the tone for a thriller with 2 sixes in the last two balls off Rauf. Then despite losing two wickets to Nawaz in the 20th over, Kohli and Ashwin managed to win the match for India on the last ball with 4 runs in hand.
Kohli was named the Player of the Match and lauding his performance, Shah Rukh Khan tweeted:
“So good to see a great game of cricket. So wonderful to see India win. So brilliant to see @imVkohli batting….and so inspiring to see him cry and smile….and the background score of Chak de India!! Happy Diwali starts right now!!!”
India will next face the Netherlands on October 27 in SCG.