After ‘boycott’ drama, Suryakumar Yadav’s side HUMILIATE neighbours to march into Super 8 with MASSIVE win

India vs Pakistan Group A T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav’s Team India have stormed into the Super 8 with their huge win over arch-rivals at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

Indian wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan’s Babar Azam in Colombo on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 Group A: Defending champions Team India made a massive statement and became the first team to book their berth in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2026 with a huge 61-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. The build-up to this Group A contest was marred by Pakistan Government’s ‘boycott’ drama and on hindsight they would have hoped that their national team should not have stepped on the field against India. Chasing 176 to win, Pakistan were bundled out for only 114 in 18 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav’s side completed their 8th win in nine T20 World Cup matches defending the target of 176 on slow and turning surface at the Premadasa Stadium with ease. Indian opener Ishan Kishan, enjoying a golden run in international cricket, smashed his second successive fifty in the T20 World Cup 2026 and the fastest-ever in India vs Pakistan matches in this ICC tournament off 27 balls en route to blasting 77 off 40 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes.

Kishan’s impetus put India on course for an above-par score after being sent into bat by Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha. The Sunrisers Hyderabad batter didn’t let India feel the loss of world No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the opening over as they piled up with 175 for 7 with sensible knocks from skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32), Shivam Dube (27) and Tilak Varma (25).

Pakistan’s reply never had a chance to get going. A lot depended on the form of their openers Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub but Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah settled the issue in the first couple of overs of the chase.

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India ensured that Sahibzada Farhan will not get a chance to repeat any ‘documentary’ as he was dismissed for a duck in the opening over which was a maiden. Bumrah then jolted Pakistan further with a couple of wickets in the second over – dismissing Ayub for 6 and Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha for 4.

Babar Azam crawls in Pakistan chase again

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam had another forgettable outing. As the run-rate kept rising, Babar struggled to get going or hit any boundaries. His misery was finally bought to an end by Axar Patel, who clean bowled him for 5 off 6 balls.

Wicketkeeper Usman Khan was the only one to give some semblance of fight in Pakistan innings, top-scoring with 44 off 34 balls with six fours and a six. But Axar Patel sent back Usman, six short of his maiden T20I fifty.

Indian bowlers never lifted their foot off the throat of Pakistan batters as even a part-timer like Tilak Varma struck with his first delivery in the match. Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel all picked up a couple of wickets each as Pakistan were caught in their own spin trap.

The struggles of Pakistan batters highlighted the brilliance of Kishan in the first-half of the match. The Indian opener scored almost 90 per cent of the team’s runs when he was in the middle and Pakistan bowlers didn’t know what hit them as their pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi bowled only 2 overs and conceded 31 runs with his first delivery deposited in the stands by Kishan.

India now have six points from three matches while Pakistan are still on 4 points with USA on the same tally as well in three and four matches respectively. They have to win against Namibia to ensure their entry into the Super 8 stages.

For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/

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The Times Of Bengal