India completed a successful defence of the Asia Cup crown
India defeated Pakistan by five wickets with two balls to spare in Dubai
Tilak hit a timely six to move his nation to the brink of a successful title defence
India completed a successful defence of the Asia Cup crown, after defeating Pakistan with two balls to spare in Dubai.
The Men In Blue won their record-extending ninth title following a five-wicket victory over their rivals, who narrowly missed out on a third triumph.
India were taken right to the wire, but Rinku Singh delivered the decisive boundary with the first ball he had faced in the entire tournament.
Pakistan had lost both meetings between the sides earlier in the competition, but Sahibzada Farhan (57 off 38 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (46 from 35 deliveries) helped them to a strong start at 113-1 after 12.4 overs.
However, the Men In Green could only add another 33 runs to their total, with Kuldeep Yadav (4-30) playing a starring role with the ball in hand.
Yet, India's chase got off to a slow start, and they found themselves at 10-2 after Faheem Ashraf dismissed Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav inside the opening three overs.
Shubman Gill also went in the following over, but Tilak Varma (69 off 53) and Sanju Samson (24 from 21) steadied the ship, while the returning Shivam Dube added 33 before falling at the end of the 19th over.
The reigning champions required eight from their final five balls, and Tilak hit a timely six to move his nation to the brink of a successful title defence, which Rinku sealed two deliveries later.
Data Debrief: Pakistan suffer record collapse
After such a positive start with the bat – during which Sahibzada became the first batter to hit three sixes off Jasprit Bumrah in T20Is - Pakistan suffered their worst nine-wicket collapse in this format, doing so for just 33 runs.
Kuldeep did most of the damage, collecting four or more wickets in a men's T20I for the fifth time. It is the joint-most by an Indian bowler in the format, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Abhishek could not quite hit the same heights as he did earlier in the tournament. Nevertheless, his total of 314 runs and batting strike rate of 200 are both the highest such tallies in a single edition of the Asia Cup.
