DUBAI: Spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India thrash Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup on Sunday as the neighbors met on the cricket pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May.
Kuldeep returned figures of 3-18 and along with fellow spinner Axar Patel kept Pakistan down to 127-9 in a key Group A T20 clash in Dubai.
India lost two wickets after a fiery 31 off 13 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma, but skipper Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 47 to achieve the target with 25 balls to spare.
Suryakumar put on 56 runs with left-hander Tilak Varma, who hit 31 before being bowled by Saim Ayub.
The captain stood firm and hit the winning six as Indian fans celebrated at a stadium, which had lot of empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.
Abhishek came out roaring as he hit Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for a four and a six and, despite the fall of Shubman Gill in the next over, kept up the charge.
Swashbuckling Abhishek cracked four boundaries and two sixes before he mistimed another attempt for a maximum to be caught at long-off off spinner Ayub.
India’s bowlers set up the dominant win as Axar, who took 2-18, and Kuldeep combined to rattle the opposition batting, which suffered from a lack of partnerships.
Hardik Pandya struck in the first over to dismiss opener Ayub for a golden duck and fellow quick Jasprit Bumrah sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris for three.
Sahibzada Farhan, who top-scored with 40, attempted to rebuild the innings along with Fakhar Zaman, who made 17, in a partnership of 39.
Axar broke the stand with his left-arm spin as he got Zaman caught out and in his next over had skipper Salman Agha out for three.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep came into the attack and struck twice on successive balls to pack off Hasan Nawaz (5) and Mohammad Nawaz (0) as Pakistan slipped to 64-6 inside 13 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling, but number nine Afridi took on the opposition attack with four sixes in his unbeaten 33 off 16 balls to push the total past 120 and play out Pakistan’s full 20 overs.
India, with two wins from two, are nearly through to the next Super Fours stage of the tournament with their final group match against Oman on Friday.
Pakistan play hosts United Arab Emirates next and despite the defeat are expected to make the next stage.
India resisted calls to boycott the T20 clash between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
