Asia Cup 2025: Imperfect India still too good for Pakistan

Yet, the win was straightforward (Cricbuzz)

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Perhaps nothing summed up the night better than Sahibzada Farhan's dismissal.

He was well set, past his half-century and had already taken on Jasprit Bumrah with rare success; only two batters have ever scored more against him in T20Is. At 90/2 at the halfway mark, Pakistan were flying.

And then came the moment. Shivam Dube, hitting the deck with the slower ball he has been working on with Morne Morkel, and making Farhan reach out with his wide line. The shot was miscued, the bat flew out of his hands, and he was caught at cover.

The dismissal told two stories.

One, of Pakistan's intent. They had been bruised by their 127/9 in the previous meeting and this was their answer: swing hard, play brave, push India. Fakhar Zaman swung hard too before a close call for caught-behind went in India's favour. Saim Ayub broke out of his rut of zeroes with 21 off 17. Hussain Talat was promoted to keep the left-right combination intact. And Salman Ali Agha, who had averaged four against spin in this Asia Cup, demoted. Pakistan were hell bent on attacking, and for ten overs, it worked.