Dubai: India beat Pakistan by five wickets in a thriller of a final to win their ninth Asia Cup title. In a match that went right down to the last over, Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 69 off 53 balls while Rinku Singh hit the winning runs with a four off the only ball he faced all tournament long.
Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav’s four-wicket haul helped India bundle out Pakistan for just 146 runs. However, India themselves were off to a disastrous start with the bat in their chase and had to abandon their big-hitting ways to stop the early collapse that they suffered.
It was Tilak and Sanju Samson who first gave India some stability with the bat. They had lost three wickets in the first three, including the in-form Abhishek Sharma. Samson and Tilak put up a partnership of 57 off 50 balls.
India chased down the 147-run target in the final over, losing five wickets. Tilak Varma top-scored with 69 runs to guide his team to victory over Pakistan.
India won the toss against Pakistan and opted to field first. Pakistan’s innings folded for 146 runs in 19.1 overs. In reply, India successfully chased the target in the last over, losing five wickets.
Sahibzada Farhan was the first to fall after scoring a solid 57 off 38 balls, caught off Varun at a total of 84. Saim Ayub followed, making 14 before Kuldeep struck at 113.
After that, Pakistan’s batting collapsed, losing eight wickets for just 33 runs. Mohammad Haris went for a duck, while Fakhar Zaman made 46 off 35 before being caught off Varun at 126. Hussain Talat fell for 1 at 131, Salman Agha managed 8, and both Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf departed without scoring. Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz added only 6 runs each.
Kuldeep Yadav took 4 wickets, while Bumrah, Varun, and Axar Patel grabbed 2 each.
India faced early trouble as Abhishek Sharma fell for 5 to Faheem in the second over. Captain Suryakumar Yadav followed for just 1 off Shaheen at 10. Shubman Gill scored 12 before falling to Faheem at 20.
Sanju Samson added 24 before Abrar dismissed him at 77. Shivam Dube made 33 before Faheem claimed his third wicket at 137.
Tilak Varma anchored the chase with a match-winning unbeaten 69, guiding India to victory.
For Pakistan, Faheem Ashraf claimed 3 wickets, while Shaheen Afridi and Abrar Ahmed took one each. Pakistan made no changes to their squad, while India replaced the injured Hardik Pandya with Rinku Singh.
