ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | India thrash Pakistan by 61 runs to book Super 8 spot

Team India became the second team to advance to the Super 8 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 after a convincing 61-run win against Pakistan at Colombo on Sunday.

Chasing 176 runs to win, Pakistan's innings never got going as they lost three wickets in the first two overs as Jaspirt Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were on the money with the new ball.

Sahibzada Farhan was the first to perish as he miscued a pull off Pandya. Bumrah then got the wickets of Saim Ayub and captain Salman Agha in his first over.

The Indian bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals as Pakistan eventually folded for 114 in the 18th over.

Each of Pakistan's top four were dismissed for a single digit score as the team slumped to 34/4 inside the powerplay.

Usman Khan provided brief hope for Pakistan with 44 runs off 34 balls. However, once he was dismissed by Axar Patel, it was one-way traffic for India.

Bumrah, Pandya, Patel and Varun Chakravarthy all claimed two wickets each, while Tilak Varma and Kuldeep Yadav got a wicket apiece for India.

Earlier, Ishan Kishan gave India a blistering start with a 40-ball 78. This came even as his partner Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck in the first over.

Pakistan, however, pulled things back through their spinners in the middle overs as Saim Ayub grabbed two wickets in as many balls to apply brakes on the Indian innings. The all-rounder registered figures of 3/25 in four overs.

Mystery spinner Usman Tariq kept things quiet in the death overs with a spell of 1/24 in four overs. However, Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube struck a few meaty blows in the last couple of overs to pull India's score to 175/7 before bowlers played their role.