India crushes Pakistan by 61 runs in marquee game in T20 World Cup. No handshakes again

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Archrivals India and Pakistan declined to shake hands before and after the most-anticipated game of cricket's Twenty20 World Cup, with India easily winning by 61 runs on Sunday to secure its Super 8 spot.

India opener Ishan Kishan scored 77 off 40 deliveries in a match in Colombo which almost didn't take place after Pakistan had threatened a boycott earlier this month before reversing its decision.

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and India captain Suryakumar Yadav didn't shake hands at the toss, which Pakistan won and chose to field. India and Pakistan players had refused to shake hands at last year’s acrimonious Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates that took place amid diplomatic and military tensions between the two neighbors.

India made a competitive 175-7 on Sunday on a sticky pitch at R. Premadasa Stadium. In reply Pakistan was bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. Despite the heavy defeat, Pakistan can still advance from Group A. It plays Namibia in its last group game.

Sunday’s game was the first time the teams have met since the Asia Cup, won by India.

Agha’s decision to bowl first surprised many because the ground has a history of not favoring run chases.

“Our bowlers didn’t bowl well according to the situation and when it came to batting we didn’t apply ourselves, they didn’t give us a chance to go deep in the game,” Agha said.

Yadav was pleased with how losing the toss had turned out.

“Batting first was a better option on this wicket," he said.

But India's batting suffered an early setback when its most aggressive batter Abhishek Sharma was dismissed without scoring. Agha bowled the first over with four consecutive dot balls and had Sharma caught by Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Kishan pulled India back with a six and two fours in the following over and he dominated an 87-run stand for the second wicket off 46 deliveries with Tilak Varma.

Kishan's innings included three sixes and 10 boundaries before being bowled by off spinner Saim Ayub.

Ayub took two consecutive wickets in his last over to finish with his career-best T20 bowling of 3-25.

Yadav (32 off 29) and Shivam Dube (27 off 17) made useful contributions for India.

Seam bowler Hardik Pandya gave India an ideal start with a wicket-maiden over, dismissing Sahibzada Farhan in the fourth delivery.

Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in the next over — Ayub (lbw for 6) and Agha (caught by Pandya for 4).

Spinner Axar Patel bowled Babar Azam (5), leaving Pakistan 34-4.

Usman Khan resisted with a 34-ball 44 but was stumped when he stepped out to hit Patel.

Pandya, Bumrah, Patel and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each.

Agha said his team must now focus on securing its place in the last eight.

Second-place U.S. and third-place Pakistan have four points each in Group A but Pakistan still has a game to play.

“You have to see the bigger picture," Agha said, "we need to win that game and qualify … and then a new tournament starts.”

India and Pakistan could meet again in the semifinals or final. That game would also be played in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament with India.

In the lead-up to the match in Colombo, Agha said he believed it was up to the Indian players to decide whether they would shake hands with his team before and after Sunday’s game.

Yadav, for his part, had been non-committal.

Pakistan’s government considered not playing Sunday’s match after the International Cricket Council kicked Bangladesh out of the World Cup for refusing to play matches in India, citing security concerns.

Pakistan only agreed to play after intense discussions with the ICC. The fixture is a major revenue earner for the ICC.

Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.

India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.

India has defeated Pakistan 13 times in the 17 T20 games they have played. It now also has an impressive 8-1 record in the nine T20 World Cup matches since the first edition in 2007.

At Mumbai, West Indies notched its third successive win in Group C when it thumped Nepal by nine wickets and qualified for the Super 8 stage.

West Indies had already beat Scotland and England to take command of Group C.

Nepal showed plenty of promise in its first game when it lost narrowly to England, but then two heavy defeats against first-timer Italy and Sunday against West Indies saw it eliminated.

Fast bowler Jason Holder grabbed 4-27 and restricted Nepal to 133-8. Shai Hope then smashed an unbeaten 61 off 44 balls and Shimron Hetmyer scored 46 off 32 balls as West Indies cruised to 134-1 in 15.2 overs.

Sanjay Krishnamurthi kept American hopes of Super 8 qualification alive with a maiden T20 half-century – 68 not out off 33 balls – against Namibia in their Group A clash.

Skipper Monank Patel also scored 52 off 30 balls as the U.S. notched up its tournament highest score – 199-4 in 20 overs.

In reply, Namibia was restricted to 168-6, losing its third game and is now eliminated from the competition.

The U.S. won its final game by 31 runs.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket