india vs pakistan t20 world cup 2026 – Artifex.News

T20 World Cup India vs Pakistan: Kishan, bowlers seal Team India’s passage to Super Eight

admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:03:00 +0000

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

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India vs Pakistan: Sun shines on Lanka tourism, economy

admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 09:01:00 +0000

India’s fans gather outside the R. Premadasa Stadium during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 match between India and Pakistan, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Rehan Fernando is excited during a 20-minute drive to the Premadasa— not precisely by the thoughts of an India vs Pakistan match that keeps millions of fans busy across the stadium, living rooms, pubs and social media.

“I am going to get a lot of Uber requests on Sunday (February 15, 2026) for stadium drop-offs and pick-ups. Need to keep Suzuki Every fuelled and ready for the rush hours,” Fernando sing-songs.

The 41-year-old, a father of two, knows that Sunday alone can add substantially to his wallet.

“I heard tickets have been sold out. Who knows! Maybe I will get enough money to do some pending repair works.” Fernando’s words are, in fact, a reflection of the general mood in Sri Lanka. For many, the India vs Pakistan match, which they don’t have any direct connection with, is a money spinner.

Fernando is not alone either. The hopes of a financial windfall waft across sections of Lankan society.

Let’s move to the posh Park Street Mews— the heartbeat of Colombo evenings and nights.

A short drive to the bustling food street through Kynsey Mawatha (road) past the De Soysa circle shows all things good about Colombo.

Glitzy buildings, wide and clean roads, showrooms of super luxury cars, outlets of exclusive suitings, fine dine restaurants— the 2km trip easily fits Colombo’s tag as a cosmopolitan port city.

It leads to a wide street filled with pubs and bistros, but Indian and Pakistani visitors have outnumbered the locals on a vibe Saturday (February 14, 2026) night that runs till 2 a.m.

“We are struggling to find seats for our customers. We generally get good footfalls on weekends, but we have not expected this kind of numbers,” says Michael Amarasiri, store manager of a well-known waterhole in the city.

Amarasiri has a deeper involvement with the Sunday (February 15, 2026) blockbuster. His brother-in-law runs a travel company here, and the stop-start nature of the match had put them in a quandary.

“Till last week, we were unsure whether the match would happen or not. We have also received some requests to cancel the room bookings after Pakistan announced its decision to boycott this match.

“But once it was decided to get on with the match, we received calls to revive the cancelled room bookings, and also more fans from India — particularly from Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru — have approached us for two-night or even one-night stays,” says Amarasiri.

“Yeah, we cannot entertain everyone but we also have tried to link with small-time tour operators and individuals who are giving houses on rent to accommodate as many requests as possible. We also have found out that the airfare has really gone through the roof in the last couple of days,” he says.

“Maybe we can have more India vs Pakistan matches in Colombo. Why don’t we have a bilateral series between them here?” Amarasiri chuckles.

But these are people from organised sectors. The local industry is also ready to make hay on the weekend.

The Khettarama road is now teeming with local vendors selling Indian and Pakistani jerseys, hats, flags, young men roaming around with ink to print erasable tattoos, temporary stalls to give lemonade, fruit juice and coconut water to fans standing in queue under the beaming Lankan sun.

Even the cricketers feel it themselves. Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha described it well.

“I have done at least 4-5 tours of Sri Lanka. I have seen the best people of my life here. They are very nice people and their hospitality is very good. So we are enjoying our time here,” said Salman.

So do the fans and the Sri Lankan economy.

Published – February 15, 2026 01:45 pm IST

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