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Abhishek Sharma pounded 74 as India continued their unbeaten run at the Asia Cup with a six-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday night.
The India opener's 74 off just 39 balls helped them chase down 171 - Pakistan's highest ever T20I score against India - with consummate ease.
Pakistan did the hard work up front after being put into bat. Opener Sahibzada Farhan was in fine form, helping his team to 55/1 off the power play. Even the miserly Jasprit Bumrah was put to he sword, with his three overs going for 34.
Pakistan continued at a decent clip, but when Saim Ayub fell for 21 (17) in the 11th over, leaving them 93/2, the slowdown started. Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel weaved their web of deceit, slowing the scoring rate.
Farhan would top score with 58 (45) and some lusty blows from Faheem Ashraf at the end propelled Pakistan to 171/5.
But Sharma and fellow opener Shubman Gill were not overawed by the task at hand. Sharma started with a six off the first ball of the innings and never looked back. The duo put on 105 off just 59 balls for the first wicket to take the sting out of the chase. Gill contributed 47 from 28.
While captain Suryakumar Yadav fell for a duck and Sharma couple over later, Tilak Varma kept up the pressure with several boundaries to get India over the line with seven balls remaining.
