India rout Pakistan in T20 World Cup grudge match after Kishan’s ‘amazing’ innings

• Group A: India, 175-7, bt Pakistan, 114, by 61 runs

• Opener’s 77 proves decisive on tricky pitch

A day of no handshakes, and for Pakistan many head shakes. India coasted to victory in what became global cricket’s most lucrative mismatch after a superlative innings from the opener Ishan Kishan skewed it definitively in their favour. In its second half a game that was dramatically off and then on again became one where a parade of Pakistan batters were dramatically in and then out again. Chasing a target of 176 they were seven down before they even got halfway, and were eventually skittled for 114 to lose by 61 runs.

Kishan’s innings was a glorious anomaly, the 27-year-old thriving on a surface that few came to terms with. Only one other player struck more than three fours; Kishan hit 10. Nobody else produced more than a single six; Kishan managed three. In all he hit 77 runs off 40 balls, the extent to which he stood out illustrated by the fact that when he was dismissed he had scored 88.5% of his team’s runs. “Ishan thought something out of the box. Someone needed to take responsibility and he did that amazingly,” said Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain. Continue reading...