DUBAI: Opener Abhishek Sharma struck a brilliant half-ton and shared a century partnership with Shubman Gill as India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in their Asia Cup Super 4s match here on Sunday.
Chasing 172 for a win, Sharma smashed 74 off 39 balls, studded with six boundaries and five maximums, and shared a 105-run opening stand with Gill (47 off 28 balls), as India reached 174/4 in 18.5 overs.
Thanks to the two openers, India reached 100 in just 8.4 overs. But there was a mini slump when the two departed and skipper Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for a duck, but Tilak Varma (30 not out) and Hardik Pandya (7 not out) guided the team to safety.
India had beaten Pakistan by seven wickets in the group stage as well.
Earlier, India pacer Shivam Dube grabbed the wickets of Sahibzada Farhan (58) and Saim Ayub (21), who had stitched together a valuable 72-run partnership for the second wicket, to stop the run flow after Pakistan had scored 91/1 at the halfway mark of their innings.
As it was the case in the league match between the two teams, there was no handshake between Suryakumar and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Agha at the toss.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan: 171 for 5 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 58, Saim Ayub 21, Mohammad Nawaz 21; Hardik Pandya 1/29, Kuldeep Yadav 1/31, Shivam Dube 2/33).
India: 174 for 4 in 18.5 overs (Shubman Gill 47, Abhishek Sharma 74, Tilak Varma 30 not out; Haris Rauf 2/26).