Cricket: India make light work of rivals Pakistan in Asia Cup clash as Kuldeep Yadav shines again

India set foot in Super Four with victory over Pakistan

Asia Cup 2025 group standings after six matches

Group A

Group B

The Dubai International Stadium played host to one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year on Sunday, and after just over three hours of battle, India confirmed our cricket predictions by beating Pakistan in their blockbuster 2025 Asia Cup clash.

The Shaheens won the toss and elected to bat, but they were set on the back foot immediately, with opener Saim Ayub sent back to the pavilion by all-rounder Hardik Pandya after the very first ball of the match.

Mohammad Haris, who was the star performer for the Green Shirts in their opening match of the tournament, was unable to reproduce the form he showed against Oman and followed Ayub back to the changeroom just seven balls later, leaving his side at 6/2 in the second over.

Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman briefly steadied the ship before the latter was dismissed for 17 runs in the eighth over. Pakistan’s middle order then collapsed, with skipper Salman Ali Agha, Hassan Nawaz and Mohammad Nawaz scoring a combined tally of just eight runs.

Pakistan eventually battled their way to 127/9, and while it proved to be way short of being a competitive target, it could have been a lot worse had Shaheen Afridi not blasted a quickfire 33* off just 16 deliveries batting at number nine.

For India, Kuldeep Yadav delivered another Player of the Match performance, bagging 3/18 off his four overs. He is now the leading wicket-taker in the competition, having notched up an incredible 4/7 in his opening match against the United Arab Emirates.

With the bat, Abhishek Sharma set the momentum with 31 runs off just 13 deliveries at the top of the batting order, while India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav saw his side over the line to a seven-wicket victory with a sublime 47* off 37 balls. Tilak Varma recorded a run-a-ball 31 at number four.

We are now a third of the way through the 2025 Asia Cup and the group standings are starting to take shape, with India now clear at the top of Group A with four points and one foot already in the Super Four.

Afghanistan are the leaders of Group B thanks to their incredible run rate after demolishing Hong Kong by 94 runs in their opening match. However, Sri Lanka are hot on their tails following their big win over Bangladesh on Saturday. The top two teams from each group progress to the knockout round.

United Arab Emirates