On Sunday, Pakistan defeated India by five wickets in a T20 Asia Cup "Super 4" match after Mohammad Rizwan scored an aggressive 71. Chasing 182 to win, Pakistan accomplished the feat with one ball remaining thanks to a crucial 73-run partnership between Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz, who scored 42.
After reaching his second consecutive fifty, Rizwan was out in the 17th over, but Pakistan was still victorious thanks to Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali in the final over. Asif was given a reprieve as Arshdeep Singh missed a clear-cut chance at short third, and after hitting six and two fours, he fell with two balls remaining, allowing Iftikhar Ahmed to score the final two runs.
India and Pakistan might still clash at the summit on September 11 in Dubai. It will be their third encounter because they previously faced off last Sunday (August 28), with India defeating Pakistan by a margin of five wickets.
India and Pakistan are paired with Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the 'Super 4' round-robin format, where a top-two finish would set up yet another Sunday clash. Pakistan and Sri Lanka each won one game, hence India needs to defeat Sri Lanka on September 6 and Afghanistan in the remaining two games (September 8). If India wins their next two games, Afghanistan will also be eliminated from the competition.
Sri Lanka will be eliminated from the campaign if India wins their final two games and Pakistan defeats the island nation. However, the Net Run Rate (NRR) enters the picture if Sri Lanka wins their next two games. India must win the following two games by significant margins to advance to the championship game. Currently, Sri Lanka (+0.589) and Pakistan (+0.126) are ahead of them in the points table with two points each, and they have an NRR of -0.126.
After Pakistan's win on Sunday, Rizwan said that his teammates had talked about the Indo-Pak contest being a "best of three-match series" between the arch-rivals. Political tension has led to a halt in bilateral series between the two countries for nearly a decade now.
"Fans from both countries anticipate a third meeting in next week's final. We have jokingly said among ourselves that it's a best of three-match series (between India and Pakistan)," said Rizwan.
Virat Kohli, who played for India, struck 60 off 44 before being run out in the final over. After being given the opportunity to bat first, his pivotal performance enabled India to avoid a middle-order slump and compile a respectable 181-7. The former captain of India hit a six-off pacer Mohammad Hasnain to achieve his 32nd half-century in just 36 deliveries.
Earlier, in the first six overs of the powerplay, India's captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner KL Rahul quickly put together 54 runs. However, Rohit returned after hitting 28 runs in the sixth over on 16 balls. Rahul also perished in the next over and Mohammad Nawaz then removed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav for 13.
Rishabh Pant went out for 14 and Hardik Pandya was dismissed for a two-ball duck, but Kohli kept the scoreboard moving. Fakhar Zaman stumbled twice in the deep, including a dropped catch that sailed past the boundary fence, and Ravi Bishnoi ended the innings with two boundaries.
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