India Clinch Asia Cup Thriller as Tilak Varma Steers Chase Against Pakistan
The same composure and calm of Tilak Varma’s 50-year tenure saw India to a tense five-wicket triumph over Pakistan in the ACC Men T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. In pursuit of a small 147-run target, India had to endure initial nervous moments before winning the match with only two balls left, with the difference of 147/5, 19.4 overs.
The pursuit by India got off to a bad start when Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Shah Afridi shattered the top order. Abhishek Sharma (5), Suryakumar Yadav (1) as a captain and Shubman Gill (12) all bowed out cheaply leaving India in shambles at 20/3 after four overs.
Sanju Samson came in to run the innings with Tilak Varma and provided vital support of 57 runs before he added 24 off 21 balls to Ahmed.
Varma followed it by a 60-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shivam Dube which regained India’s initiative. Dube blasted his way to 33 in 22 blows and was sent back by Faheem in the last but one over.
Varma had not been beaten and scored a match winning 69 off 53 balls with four sixes and three fours. The best bowler in Pakistan was Faheem Ashraf, who took 3/29, and Shaheen and Abrar were the only one who took one wicket.
Previously, Pakistan had been bowled out in 146 after a good start in 19.1 overs. Opener Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman drove their side to 84 in ten overs when the bowlers of India unleashed a disastrous run down.
Farhan scored the most with 57 in 38 balls and Fakhar came with 46 in 35 balls. Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Farhan to disrupt the initial stand and this gave way to Indian rebirth. The firing of Saim Ayub on the grounds of 14 caused a ripple effect in the middle-order with Pakistan losing 9 wickets in 33 runs.
Varun Chakravarthy was in the limelight of the ball, making 4/30, and Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav contributed two wickets apiece, which preconditioned the exciting Indian victory over their most usual opponents.
The post India Clinch Asia Cup Thriller as Tilak Varma Steers Chase Against Pakistan appeared first on Ten Sports TV.
