India vs Pakistan: India has defeated Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup 2025 by five wickets in a closer-than-expected match to win the competition for a second time in a row.
The third India vs Pakistan match in as many weeks was the final of the Asia Cup 2025. The match was played at the Dubai International Stadium and saw the Men in Blue win the toss and decide to bowl first.
India vs Pakistan: India Beats Pakistan In Asia Cup Final
Pakistan got off to an excellent start in their inning. While the first over, surprisingly bowled by Shivam Dube, went well for India, the Men in Green quickly found their rhythm and started stacking up runs. The opening pair of Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman together scored 45 runs in the powerplay without losing any wickets.
However, after the six-over mark, they really picked up the pace. By the ninth over, Farhan had scored a half-century, and Pakistan had made 77 runs without any losses. It seemed that for the final, the usual India vs Pakistan script would be flipped. However, success soon came for the Indian bowlers.
In the 10th over, Varun Chakravarthy found his first victim in Sahibzada Farhan. Failing to read a googly, the batter slogged the ball and was caught at square leg, 84/1.
This wicket brought Saim Ayub to the crease. Despite a wicket, the run rate did not fall as Ayub and Zaman kept scoring at a decent rate. However, the complexion of this match was about to change as Saim Ayub became Kuldeep Yadav’s first wicket in this match as the wrist spinner dismissed Saim for 14 off 11 in the 13th over, 113/2.
This was the start of a massive collapse for Pakistan, as wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris got out to Axar Patel for a duck in the very next over. Fakhar Zaman, after scoring 46 off 35, became Chakravarthy’s second prey in the 15th over.
Hussain Talat would be caught behind in the 16th, and captain Salman Ali Agha would become Kuldeep’s second in the 17th over. From 113/2, Pakistan had tumbled down to 133/6. And the collapse was yet to finish. Shaheen Afridi, who had been Pakistan’s hero with the bat and the ball in this tournament, got out for a duck in the 17th as well, and so did Faheem Ashraf. With this, Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets in one over.
Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up the tail quickly afterwards, as Pakistan were bowled out for 146 after getting off to a solid start.
However, despite pulling themselves to be the favourites to win this match, the Men in Blue got off to a poor start to their innings. Abhishek Sharma, who has been excellent for three matches in a row and is the tournament’s highest run scorer, scored just five before mistiming a slower one by Faheem Ashraf and getting caught at mid-off in the second over after just scoring five.
Captain Surya Kumar Yadav never settled in, making only one run before being dismissed by Shaheen Afridi in the third over, and Shubman Gill would depart in the powerplay too, making only 12 runs before getting out to Ashraf as India fell to 20/3.
As the target was not too big, the fourth-wicket partnership of Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, rather than looking to hit big, dug down on the crease, just trying to avoid losing any more wickets. At the end of the powerplay, the score was 42/3. But by the halfway mark, the run rate had fallen below six, as the score at that point was 58/3.
While many Indian fans feared an upset at this point, the two batters on the crease did not lose their cool. Well, until the 13th over, when Sanju Samson, looking to pick the pace up, misread a delivery by Abrar Ahmed and was caught at point. As Sanju got out for 24 off 21, the score was not 77/4 in the 13th over, and India needed 70 off 46.
This was a trigger for Tilak Varma to start scoring quicker to catch up with the required run rate, which has climbed to over nine at this point. This picking up of the run rate started in the 15th over, in which the pair of Varma and Shivam Dube made 17 runs off Haris Rauf.
This was the start of the Indian batters climbing their way to the target. Tilak Varma completed his half-century soon after, as they hit 10 or more runs in an over regularly from this point.
With 10 runs needed in seven balls, Shivam Dube got out for 33 off 22. That left a target of 10 runs in the last over with Tilak Varma on strike and pacer Haris Rauf running in with the ball.
First ball, Tilak took a double with Rinku Singh, who was on the crease for the first time this tournament, replacing Hardik Pandya in the side. Second ball, Tilak hit a massive six, virtually ending the match. On the next ball, a single was taken, and the scores were level. Rinku, facing a delivery for the first time in this Asia Cup, hit a boundary to win India the match as Pakistan fell short against their arch-rivals once again.
This was the third India vs Pakistan match of the Asia Cup 2025. And for the third time in as many weeks, India emerged victorious in this match-up. The two standout performers for India in this match were Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma. While Kuldeep bowled a brilliant spell of 4/30 in four overs, Tilak scored 69* off 53 and guided India to their second Asia Cup victory in a row.
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