Ishan Kishan smashed a match-winning 77. © AFP
Ishan KishanIshan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav fearless knock 40-ball 77 from turns the heat on Pakistan as his explosive batting powers India to a dominant and unforgettable victory.
India-Pakistan’s eagerly anticipated match in Colombo was decided by Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav (77 0f 40) to win India surrender Pakistan.To advance to the Super 8 stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup, the reigning champions upset their bitter rivals by 61 runs. Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav, put on a spectacular 77-run, 40-ball innings to lead India to 175/7 on a wicket that had been favorable for spin bowling all evening. Pakistan had previously set a World Cup record with six slow bowlers. Before India’s bowlers forced Pakistan to surrender with two overs remaining, the top four batsmen in the country could only muster 15 runs between them.
The opener was kept quiet in the first over by Pakistan captain Salman Agha, who eventually got him to mistime one and get caught at mid-on, so Abhishek Sharma’s comeback to India’s XI didn’t go as planned. But in the PowerPlay, which Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav dominated, that was the only success Pakistan managed to achieve. Following the dismissive removal of Shaheen Afridi’s opening ball for a huge six, Kishan and Tilak Varma both retrieved streaking boundaries. After that, Kishan accelerated even further by facing surrender Pakistani bowler, with Tilak watching from the sidelines.
Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav, playing about with the Pakistani assault, which kept giving him opportunities to spin. Shadab Khan’s opening over cost Pakistan 17 runs when the opener hit another six and then a boundary, while Abrar was hit for a hat-trick of boundaries that led to Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav half-century. When Kishan missed a shot that Ayub slowed down, the ball crashed against the stumps, bringing an end to the carnage. His exit had a significant effect on the scoring rate. The rest of the batting order had to work hard to graft runs on the spin-friendly pitch. In the following six overs, India scored just 38 runs, down from 89/2 after nine overs.
With two wickets off two balls in the 15th over, Ayub continued to extract plenty of turn and gave India a timely reprieve.Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav (77 off 40), Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 29) fought for his side until the very end, but the spin barrage persisted. Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh hit timely boundaries to propel India above the 170-run mark, but Usman Tariq, who had been the center of attention prior to the match, had a clean spell and was rewarded with the Indian captain’s wicket in the penultimate over.
surrender Pakistan needed to either make the fielding limits matter or pray for dew’s intervention in the second half in order to establish a challenge. Unfortunately for the 2009 champions, Hardik Pandya scored in the opening over after Sahibzada Farhan misplayed a pull, making up for his first-ball duck. Following a wicket maiden, India advanced further in the second over when Agha flicked a feeble yorker to fall for just four and Jasprit Bumrah produced a scorching yorker to snare Ayub leg-before-wicket. Pakistan were 13/3 after just two overs.
After that start, it was always going to be a difficult task for Pakistan because spin had not yet been released. Although Usman Khan fought hard and used a lot of boundaries, Axar Patel eliminated Babar Azam to further hurt Pakistan. Then, with players like Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar keeping things tight, India kept attacking Pakistan with their tweakers. In the second half, something had to happen, and Pakistan surrendered up as predicted.
Mohammad Nawaz found Dube close to the deep midwicket boundary, and Usman, their best batsman of the evening, was stumped off Axar. When Shadab mistimed a ball and was caught close to long on as surrender Pakistan was coming to an end, Tilak even joined in, hitting the first ball. To speed up the process, Chakaravarthy went back to the attack and did his part by taking wickets off consecutive deliveries. Hardik hit the last nail in the coffin in the 18th over, but the spinner missed his hat-trick. Pakistan will need to defeat Namibia in their last group match in order to qualify after this defeat.
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INDIA 8-1 Pakistan
The contest had been dramatically built up. A week prior, Pakistan had even threatened a boycott before changing their mind. They had won both of their group-stage matches in Colombo, so they went into the game with considerable optimism despite their recent troubles against India. Additionally, they were more accustomed to the conditions, whereas India only had one practice session following their arrival in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday.
On a slow Premadasa surface, Ishan Kishan’s Shiv Tandav astonishing 77 from just 40 deliveries proved to be the difference, as India reached a commanding 175 for seven after being asked to bat. His innings combined planned execution with fearless intent on a pitch that made free-flowing strokeplay difficult, making it one of the most significant T20I runs by an Indian batsman in difficult circumstances.
Pakistan’s pursuit was never successful. Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, and captain Salman Ali Agha were all quickly removed by early and devastating strikes from Jasprit Bumrah (2/17) and Hardik Pandya (2/16). Pakistan was put on the defensive right away by those early failures, which drained the competition of any ongoing tension. Additionally, the win increased India’s commanding 8-1 head-to-head record against Pakistan in T20 World Cups.
Brief scores: India 175/7 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 77, Suryakumar Yadav 32; Saim Ayub 3/25) beat Pakistan 114 in 18 overs (Usman Khan 44; Hardik Pandya 2/16, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/17) by 61 runs
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