Usman Tariq was in the spotlight as he took the big wicket of the Indian T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav during the T20 World Cup group-stage clash between India and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
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Usman Tariq finally got his reward off the penultimate ball of his spell, dismissing India captain Suryakumar Yadav during their T20 World Cup clash at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. While he might not have been among the wickets for most of his spell, Tariq had a significant impact with his economical bowling, consistently keeping the Indian batters in check.
The dismissal came through smart bowling. Tariq paused in his delivery stride before sending down a flatter delivery. Suryakumar moved across his stumps, looking to slog this over mid-wicket, but mistimed the shot completely. The big boundaries at the R Premadasa Stadium ensured it wasn’t going all the way. Saim Ayub at the boundary seemed to have misjudged the catch initially but managed to hold on in the end.
Following the wicket, Tariq produced a memorable celebration – doing his trademark bowing down gesture, reminiscent of Robin Uthappa’s iconic celebration during the famous bowl-out against Pakistan back in 2007, before blowing some flying kisses toward the departing Indian captain. Suryakumar departed after making 32 off 27 balls.
Spinners dominate as Pakistan restrict India
Put in to bat after losing the toss, India’s innings was built around a strong knock from Ishan Kishan, who took the game away from Pakistan despite the early fall of Abhishek Sharma in the very first over, bowled by captain Salman Ali Agha.
The other Indian batters found it tough to find boundaries against Pakistan’s spin-heavy attack. Agha made a tactical masterstroke by employing pace for just two overs throughout the entire innings, relying heavily on his spinners to exploit Colombo’s slow conditions.
The strategy paid dividends as Saim Ayub emerged as the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, ending with impressive figures of three wickets for just 25 runs in his four overs.
Pakistan’s disciplined bowling performance kept India’s scoring rate in check throughout the innings, setting up what promises to be an exciting chase.
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