Colombo (Sri Lanka) – In one of the most anticipated encounters of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, India secured a commanding 61-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday evening.
The win not only continued India’s unbeaten run in the tournament but also boosted their chances of advancing to the Super-8 stage with momentum.
Match Scorecard
India Innings – 175/7 in 20 overs
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| Ishan Kishan (wk) | 77 | 40 | 10 | 3 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Tilak Varma | 25 | – | – | – |
| Suryakumar Yadav (c) | 32 | 29 | 3 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | 0 | – | 0 | 0 |
| Shivam Dube † | 27 | – | – | – |
| Rinku Singh * | 11 | – | – | – |
| Axar Patel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras (LB 2, W 1) | 3 | — | — | — |
Total: 175/7 (20.0 overs)
Fall of Wickets:
1-1 (Abhishek Sharma), 2-88 (Ishan Kishan), 3-126 (Tilak Varma), 4-126 (Suryakumar Yadav), 5-159 (Hardik Pandya), 6-175 (Shivam Dube), 7-175 (Axar Patel)
Bowling (Pakistan):
- Saim Ayub 4-0-25-3
- Salman Agha 2-0-10-1
- Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-0-31-1
- Abrar Ahmed 3-0-38-0
- Shadab Khan 1-0-17-0
- Mohammad Nawaz 4-0-28-0
- Usman Tariq 4-0-24-1
Pakistan Innings – 114/9 in 18.0 overs
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| Sahibzada Farhan | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Saim Ayub | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Salman Agha (c) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Babar Azam | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Usman Khan | 44 | 34 | – | 1 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 23 | 19 | – | – |
| Faheem Ashraf | – | – | – | – |
| Shadab Khan | – | – | – | – |
| Mohammad Nawaz | – | – | – | – |
| Abrar Ahmed | – | – | – | – |
| Extras | – | — | — | — |
Total: 114/9 (18.0 overs)
Best Bowlers (India):
- Hardik Pandya 2–1–16–2
- Varun Chakravarthy 3–0–17–2
- Ishan Kishan’s explosive 77 (from 40 balls) anchored India’s innings and was the backbone of the competitive total.
- Suryakumar Yadav’s sensible 32 kept the momentum in the middle overs.
- Usman Khan top-scored for Pakistan with 44, but the required run chase pressure was too much for the visitors.
- Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy stood out with key wickets that derailed the Pakistan chase.
After winning the toss, Pakistan opted to field, hoping to defend. However, India’s aggressive batting, led by Kishan, set a tough target of 176 runs. Pakistan struggled against disciplined Indian bowling, losing wickets at regular intervals and falling well short of the target. The result reinforced India’s dominance in classic India–Pakistan T20 World Cup clashes.
