Dubai: India restricted Pakistan to a modest 127/9 in their Asia Cup Group A match at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday evening.
Skipper Salman Agha’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired straightaway as Hardik Pandya dismissed Saim Ayub with the game’s first delivery. Jasprit Bumrah (2/28) doubled Pakistan’s agony with the scalp of Mohammad Haris with his second delivery, in the next over.
Pakistan recovered partially from 6/2, but India’s spinners then took charge to strangle the inexperienced batting lineup.
They failed to pick chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who finished with 3/18 after having bagged 4/7 against the UAE four days ago. Axar Patel enjoyed figures of 2/18 in his 4 overs and Varun Chakravarthy chipped in with 1/24.
Sahibzada Farhan top-scored with 40, but it came off 44 balls – too slow for a T20 game. It was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s cameo of 33 not out (16 balls, 4×6) that carried Pakistan past the 120-run mark after 5 of the top 7 batters fell for single-digit scores.
