Pakistan 146 all out (Farhan 57, Fakhar 46; Kuldeep 4-30, Bumrah 2-25, Axar 2-26, Varun 2-30) v India
Pakistan’s innings unravelled in remarkable fashion in the Asia Cup final, slipping from 113 for 1 to 146 all out in the space of 44 deliveries. Nine wickets tumbled for just 33 runs, undoing the solid platform laid by Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman.
Farhan’s 57, brisk but controlled, had loosened Indian shoulders already missing Hardik Pandya, sidelined by a quad strain. Fakhar’s 46 gave the partnership substance. Kuldeep Yadav’s opening two overs went for 23 and India looked short of answers.
Then the left-arm wrist-spinner found his length. Three wickets in his final over triggered a collapse that felt both sudden and avoidable. “That one over changed everything,” admitted one Pakistan support-staff member off mic, shaking his head in the dug-out.
Varun Chakravarthy kept things tight at the other end. He removed Farhan with a slower ball that stopped in the pitch, then came back to snare Fakhar when Pakistan still had overs in hand. No other batter reached 15; that stat alone summarises the innings.
Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up the tail with typical precision. After words were exchanged earlier, he knocked back Haris Rauf’s off stump and mimed a downward motion—an echo of Rauf’s own boundary-line gesture last week. It was pointed but brief, and the bowler turned quickly back to his mark.
India will chase 147 under lights. The surface is worn and the dew could yet level things, but Pakistan’s dressing-room knows it left at least 25 runs, probably more, out there. In finals, those gaps rarely go unnoticed.
