Monday, 16 February 2026 | Web Desk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a high-voltage ICC T20 World Cup group encounter at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo<\/strong>, India secured a commanding 61-run victory<\/strong> over Pakistan to qualify for the Super eight stage of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan Captain Salman Agha<\/strong> won the toss and elected to bowl first, inviting India to bat on a pitch expected to assist bowlers early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India’s Innings: Kishan Shines After Early Jolt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n India’s innings got off to a disastrous start when opener Abhishek Sharma<\/strong> was dismissed for a golden duck in the very first over, caught behind off the bowling of Pakistan captain Salman Agha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Ishan Kishan<\/strong> steadied the ship with a magnificent knock. The left-hander played a responsible innings, scoring 77 runs off just 40 balls<\/strong>, laced with boundaries and sixes. His aggressive stroke play put the Indian innings on track. He was eventually bowled by Saim Ayub<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 126 runs in the 15th over, Tilak Varma<\/strong> fell for 25, also dismissed by Saim Ayub. On the very next ball, Hardik Pandya<\/strong> was trapped leg-before by Ayub for a golden duck, giving the Pakistani pacer a double-wicket maiden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India’s fifth wicket fell at 159 when captain Suryakumar Yadav<\/strong> was dismissed for 32, caught by Usman Tariq<\/strong>. Dubey<\/strong> contributed 27 runs, while Axar Patel<\/strong> was run out for a duck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India finished their 20 overs at 175 for the loss of 7 wickets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan’s Bowling:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan’s Batting Collapse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chasing a target of 176 runs, Pakistan’s batting lineup once again failed to fire. The entire team was bowled out for a paltry 114 runs in just 18 overs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The top order crumbled under pressure, with captain Salman Agha managing only 4 runs<\/strong> and Babar Azam scoring 5<\/strong>. As many as seven Pakistani batsmen failed to reach double figures<\/strong>, and three were dismissed for ducks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usman Khan<\/strong> was the lone warrior for Pakistan, scoring 44 runs<\/strong>\u2014the highest in the innings. Shadab Khan<\/strong> contributed 14, while Fakhar Zaman<\/strong> scored 10 before being dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India’s Bowling:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Indian bowling attack was disciplined and destructive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Playing XIs:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan:<\/strong> Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha (c), Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India:<\/strong> Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Dubey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notable Moment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the toss, the captains of Pakistan and India did not shake hands<\/strong>, adding a layer of intensity to the already charged atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this win, India has officially secured its place in the Super Eight<\/strong> stage of the ICC T20 World Cup, while Pakistan faces an uphill battle to stay in contention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday, 16 February 2026 | Web Desk In a high-voltage ICC T20 World Cup group encounter at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, India secured a commanding 61-run victory over Pakistan to qualify for the Super eight stage of the tournament. Pakistan Captain Salman Agha won the toss and elected to bowl first, inviting India to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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