Tilak Varma, spinners deliver India Asia Cup as Pakistan implode

India soaked up the pressure Pakistan applied, first on their bowling and then in the chase, to emerge Asia Cup champions in Dubai on Sunday. Tilak Varma was the hero with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 69 as India chased down a target of 147 by five wickets, with two balls remaining.

Pakistan had imploded in their bowling just as they did while batting early on after Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss. India were in deep trouble halfway into the powerplay, going from 7/1 to 10/2 to 20/3, losing fiery openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill and skipper Surya during the period.

For Pakistan, it was their best opportunity to upset their superior neighbours. A little more incision would have done the job, perhaps, but they let India get back on their feet and start running. A 57-run partnership between Varma and Sanju Samson was the first act of defiance from the World Champions, telling their unfriendly opposition that the race wasn't over yet. When Sanju (24) fell, miscuing an Abrar Ahmed delivery, Shivam Dube arrived, and he held a 60-run partnership with the other left-hander in the middle. Dube perished with an over and 10 runs away, but India had come quite a long way to give up, and a six from Varma and a four off Rinku Singh's bat got the job done for Gautam Gambhir's boys.

Earlier, Pakistan folded for 146 after Sahibzada Farhan (57) and Fakhar Zaman (46) put them in control. Pakistan raced to 45/0 in the powerplay overs, and the openers accelerated, threatening to target 200. Farhan reached his fifty off 35 balls in the 9th over. But Varun Chakravarthy removed the right-hander and got rid of Zaman as he was closing in on a much-deserved fifty, caught at backward point, in the 15th over.

Pakistan lost the plot thereafter, and Indian spinners made the most of the change in mood. Saim Ayub was the last Pakistani batter, who seemed likely to find a boundary; he got a couple off Shivam Dube to get Pakistan to the verge of triple digits (98/1 in 11 overs).

Pakistan reached 100 in the 12th over, before their innings collapsed like a pack of cards. Ayub couldn't clear the backward point off Kuldeep's bowling. The left-arm spinner was the pick of the Indian bowling unit, finishing with 4/30.

Then it was a free fall; Mohammad Haris (0) looked like he had timed a lofted shot over long off, but ended up being dismissed tamely by Axar Patel, who also removed Hussain Talat (1) with a quick one that took a thick edge and nestled in the safe hands of Sanju Samson behind the stumps.

Kuldeep struck three in one over; first Pakistan skipper Salman Agha (8), skying and ending up in Sanju's gloves, then Shaheen Afridi (0) getting trapped leg before, and Faheem Ashraf (0) going after a floater and giving a catch to Tilak Varma at long off.

Bumrah, who had a horrible outing in the previous meeting with Pakistan, going wicketless for 45, made sure he joined in the party tonight. The pacer rattled the off stump of Haris Rauf and signalled something that resembled a crash landing, perhaps a jibe at the belligerent Pakistani pacer, who received a fine for his provocative 'air raid' gesture last week. Bumrah wrapped up the proceedings by removing Nawaz (6) in the first ball of the 20th as Pakistan's dream of posting a daunting total folded meekly.

Brief scores: Pakistan 146 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 57, Fakhar Zaman 46, Kuldeep Yadav 4/30, Jasprit Bumrah 2/25, Axar Patel 2/26, Varun Chakravarthy 2/30) lost to India 150/5 in 19.4 overs (Tilak Varma 69 not out, Shivam Dube 33, Faheem Ashraf 3/29)