The Indian juggernaut rolled on even as the rains that were forecast stayed away at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on an electric Sunday (February 15, 2026). The defending champion rode on Ishan Kishan’s muscular 77 and its potent attack to defeat Pakistan by 61 runs in the ICC T20 World Cup Group A match. The win also helped India qualify for the Super Eight stage.
After posting 175 for seven, Suryakumar Yadav’s men bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs. The pursuit was in a shambles when Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and captain Salman Agha were back in the hut with a mere 13 on the board. Hardik, with a wicket and a catch, and Bumrah, two wickets in his kitty, were the initial speed-breakers for the rivals.
Pakistan’s woes extended as Babar Azam found Axar Patel sliding one into his stumps. Meanwhile, Usman Khan waged a lone battle, striking cleanly down the ground. But once he succumbed to Axar, with Kishan whipping the bails off, Pakistan was down for the count.
Earlier, Agha won the toss, elected to field, and found the mark through his spinning arm. Abhishek Sharma, back in the Indian playing XI, miscued a pull and India was one for one after the first over.
But there were no premature nerves as Kishan (77, 40b, 10×4, 3×6) smote pacer Shaheen Afridi’s first ball for six. The opener played his shots with conviction, and even when a few edges raced past the ropes, he refused to turn conservative. The southpaw remained busy, pulling, gliding, hoisting and driving past fifty as no part of the ground was beyond his reach.
A spin-heavy Pakistan attack struggled to stifle Kishan while his partner Tilak Varma stayed on 10 for a while. Having reverse-hit Saim, Kishan tried to force one on the off-side and got castled but by then he had set a strong base for India. A bustling Suryakumar hit a four off Usman Tariq, Tilak exhaled with a six off Mohammad Nawaz and India cruised.
A brief stutter occurred when Tilak and Hardik fell off successive deliveries against Saim. Shivam Dube averted the hat-trick and along with his skipper, eased into a partnership based on singles and elevated by the odd four and six.
Even after Suryakumar fell to Tariq, Dube remained busy and despite India losing two more batters in the death, there was enough and more to stay ahead of Pakistan for the rest of the night.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Ishan Kishan b Saim 77 (40b, 10×4, 3×6), Abhishek Sharma c Afridi b Agha 0 (4b), Tilak Varma lbw b Saim 25 (24b, 2×4, 1×6), Suryakumar Yadav c Saim b Tariq 32 (29b, 3×4), Hardik Pandya c Babar b Saim 0 (1b), Shivam Dube run out 27 (17b, 3×4, 1×6), Rinku Singh (not out) 11 (4b, 1×4, 1×6), Axar Patel c Saim b Afridi 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-1 (Abhishek, 0.6 overs), 2-88 (Kishan, 8.4), 3-126 (Tilak, 14.2), 4-126 (Hardik, 14.3), 5-159 (Suryakumar, 18.5), 6-175 (Dube, 19.5), 7-175 (Axar, 19.6).
PAKISTAN BOWLING
Agha 2-0-10-1, Afridi 2-0-31-1, Saim 4-0-25-3, Abrar 3-0-38-0, Shadab 1-0-17-0, Nawaz 4-0-28-0, Tariq 4-0-24-1.
PAKISTAN
Sahibzada Farhan c Rinku b Hardik 0 (4b), Saim Ayub lbw b Bumrah 6 (2b, 1×6), Salman Agha c Hardik b Bumrah 4 (4b, 1×4), Babar Azam b Axar 5 (7b), Usman Khan st. Kishan b Axar 44 (34b, 6×4, 1×6), Shadab Khan c Dube b Tilak 14 (15b, 1×4), Mohammad Nawaz c Dube b Kuldeep 4 (5b, 1×4), Faheem Ashraf c Rinku b Varun 10 (14b, 1×4), Shaheen Afridi (not out) 23 (19b, 2×4, 1×6), Abrar Ahmed lbw b Varun 0 (1b), Usman Tariq b Hardik 0 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (in 18 overs): 114.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-0 (Farhan, 0.4), 2-6 (Saim, 1.2), 3-13 (Agha, 1.6), 4-34 (Babar, 4.5), 5-73 (Usman, 10.4), 6-78 (Nawaz, 11.4), 7-78 (Shadab, 12.1), 8-97 (Ashraf, 15.3), 9-97 (Abrar, 15.4).
INDIA BOWLING
Hardik 3-1-16-2, Bumrah 2-0-17-2, Axar 4-0-29-2, Varun 3-0-17-2, Kuldeep 3-0-14-1, Tilak 2-0-11-1, Rinku 1-0-9-0.
Toss: Pakistan; PoM: Kishan.
Published – February 15, 2026 10:52 pm IST
