India overcame archrivals Pakistan by 5 wickets to claim the Asia Cup title in Dubai on Sunday, with Tilak Varma scoring an undefeated 69 following Kuldeep Yadav’s 4/30.
Rinku Singh got the final runs off Haris Rauf as India won their ninth Asia Cup after chasing down the 147-run target with two balls remaining.
The final 12 balls required 17 runs, and Faheem Ashraf had to pull up twice during his run-up due to cramping. India was on the verge of triumph as Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube combined for 60 runs off 40 balls. However, Ashraf had Dube (33) caught by Shaheen Afridi at long off.
With ten runs needed from the last over, which was bowled by Haris Rauf, Rinku Singh approached the crease. To make it two needed off the final four balls, Tilak took a double on the first ball, but the second delivery flew into the crowd over the square leg fence for a spectacular six.
To secure an incredible triumph for India, Rinku hit a four off the only ball he faced during the competition after Tilak took a single off the third ball.
Tilak’s 50-run partnership with Dube came off just 36 balls, and he reached his 50 off 41 balls. In his knock, Tilak hit three fours and four sixes.
By stepping out to Shaheen Afridi off the opening delivery of the run chase, Abhishek Sharma attempted to get India off to a blazing start once more, but his enormous heave missed the ball and the delivery just missed the off-stump.
Abhishek (5), however, didn’t learn his lesson after hitting a boundary off Afridi in the first over. His overly aggressive attitude led to his departure when he mistimed a slower ball from Faheem Ashraf in the next over, sending it high up in the air for Haris Rauf to grab at mid-on.
A slower ball from Afridi was mistimed by India captain Suryakumar Yadav to mid-off, allowing his opponent Salman Agha to grab the catch diving forward and fall for one, continuing his dismal batting performance.
In the subsequent over, Ashraf struck once more with a slower delivery, and Rauf took his second catch when Shubman Gill (12) unnecessarily charged down and mistimed a hit. Given that seven runs had already been scored in the over and that Gill even charged down the pitch, it would be an understatement to suggest that India was throwing away the match. After four overs, India was down to 20/3.
Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson steadied the innings as India ended the powerplay at 36/3, their lowest score of the competition.
When Varma was caught by Sahibzada Farhan at point, Abrar Ahmed ended the 57-run partnership between him and Samson. Samson left after hitting two fours, a six, and 24 runs off 21 balls.
Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman built up an 83-run partnership to give Pakistan a strong start when they batted earlier, and a 180-190 score was looming for India to chase.
Farhan hit a fifty and once again unsettled India’s pace leader Jasprit Bumrah, but Varun Chakaravarthy removed him for 57, also dismissing Fakhar (46). Pakistan then engaged in hara-kiri. In 19.1 overs, they were hustled out for 146 after being at 113/2 at one stage.
Kuldeep Yadav, who initially removed Saim Ayub (14) before coming back into the attack to remove Pakistan skipper Salman Agha, Shaheen Afridi, and Faheem Ashraf in one over at the end of his spell, was the man who caused Pakistan to lose their way.
After giving up 23 runs in his first two overs, Kuldeep took 4/7 in his next two overs. With the help of other spinners Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel, who each claimed two wickets, the Chinaman bowler returned with figures of 4/30.
With 17 wickets at the end of the competition, Kuldeep tied the records for most wickets in a T20I tournament held by Arshdeep Singh (India) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan) in the T20 World Cup 2024.
In addition to taking two wickets, Bumrah smiled and made a cheeky dipping flight motion at Rauf after destroying his wickets with his signature yorker.
