Colombo: Team India stuttered after Ishan Kishan’s breathtaking fireworks and were restricted to 175/7 in their T20 World Cup marquee clash against Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday evening.
Abhishek Sharma fell for his second duck in the tournament, holing out to mid-on to the final ball of the first over delivered by Pakistan skipper Salman Agha.
Kishan took over the mantle of power-hitting, sending the Pakistan bowlers to all parts of the ground.
The left-handed ‘pocket dynamite’ smashed 77 (40 balls, 10×4, 3×6) of the 88 runs India scored before being castled by offie Saim Ayub.
Tilak Varma (25) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32) carried the total to 126, but then disaster struck the men in blue.
Tilak was trapped leg-before wicket by Saim, and Hardik was dismissed next ball going for a big hit.
Shivam Dube managed to deny Saim a hat-trick, going on to make a 17-ball 27 before he was run out.
