T20 world cup : India thrashed Pakistan by 8 wickets
Colombo: India thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets to keep their title hopes alive in the ICC World Twenty20 here on Sunday.
Ashwin (2/16) and Yuvraj (2/16) snapped up four wickets between themselves as Pakistan were shot out for a meager 128 in 19.4 overs. Lakshmipathy Balaji also complemented the ‘spin twins’ with impressive figures of 3/22 in 3.4 overs.
Kohli’s unbeaten 78 off 61 balls as India won with three overs to spare. The Delhi lad hit nine boundaries and two sixes to take the team home in the high-voltage contest watched by a capacity crowd.
However, Pakistan are still ahead in terms of net run rate of -0.426 which is shade better than India’s -0.452. Had India won with 20 balls to spare, they would have been No 2 in the group.
India will now have to defeat South Africa in their last group-2 match on Tuesday to make it to the semi-finals.
India’s unbeaten record against Pakistan in ICC World Cups has thus been kept intact having beaten them five times in the 50-over version and thrice in the T20 format.
Kohli started with a thick outside edge off Raza Hasan for a boundary but then played some lovely strokes. A back-foot cover drive off Saeed Ajmal and lovely cover drive off Yaser Arafat were glorious strokes.
He also lofted Shahid Afridi over long-off for a six. Whether driving on the up or playing off his hips, Kohli was a treat to watch.
