India vs Pakistan: Ishan’s fiery 77 sets up par total before spinners strike

It may be early days to say whether the ongoing T20 World Cup will be remembered as Ishan Kishan’s comeback one, but the pocketsized Indian opener showed showed a big heart with his breathtaking 77 off 40 balls in the needle game against Pakistan at Colombo this evening. The spinners of Pakistan, however, struck back in the middle overs to set up the game nicely as India eventually finished with a par total of 175 for seven on a tacky slow Premadasa Stadium surface.

 It was for the first time that any side had used six frontline spinners in their attack in a T20I game – though it was the crafty Sami Ayub, instead of mystery spinner Usman Tariq, who did the most damage when he was on a hattrick after sending back Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya in the 15^th over the innings. A blow, from which the Men in Blue could not escalate to reach a total in the region of 200, but they were sitting pretty after having reduced the green shirts to 20 for three by the third over.

 On a surface where the ball was gripping and holding, Pakistan were off to a dream start when Abhishek Sharma fell for his second duck of the tournament in the first over. They doubled down on spin, sending down five overs of it inside the Powerplay, only the 13th instance in T20 World Cup history that a fifth over of spin had been bowled in that phase.

Kishan, however, refused to let the early setback slow him down. The best part of his innings was the manner he did not let the occasion of the big game get better of him, rocking back to pull the left-arm quick Shaheen Afridi for a towering six. It was an innings of high risk-high reward variety as they surged to 52 for one after powerplay.

The field spread after the sixth over, but Kishan did not relent. Three boundaries in three deliveries outside the Powerplay ensured Pakistan could not regain control. A boundary off Abrar brought up a stunning fifty off just 27 balls, drawing applause from the Indian dugout and briefly silencing the Pakistani huddle.

 There was a moment of concern when Kishan went down clutching his right leg after attempting a reverse-sweep. He laid on his back grimacing as the physio stretched him, and play paused for a couple of minutes. He eventually returned to his feet and resumed, even as Afridi was seen getting his right knee strapped up at the other end.

Pakistan's decision to hold back the much talked out Tariq eventually paid off. A ball after reverse-pulling Saim Ayub for four, Kishan backed away in an attempt to access the leg side, but the delivery was a touch too full and clipped the top of leg stump. His dismissal left India at 88 for 2 in 8.4 overs, roughly 20 runs above par for the conditions.