World T20: Pakistan outplay India in warm-up

Pakistan gave themselves a morale boost before the tournament when they defeated India by 5 wickets in their warm-up encounter ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka. (AFP Photos)

India lost both openers early. Virender Sehwag hit a quick-fire 26 of 14 balls before Saeed Ajmal dismissed him.

Virat Kohli came down hard on the Pakistani bowlers as he smashed 75 runs off 47 balls including 2 huge hits out of the park.

Virat was well supported by Rohit Sharma who found form with a 40 ball 56 and they saw India through to a challenging 185/3.

Pakistan needed a good start and it was provided by Mohammad Hafeez who blasted 38 quick runs to keep Pakistan in the hunt.

Ravichandran Ashwin provided India with crucial wickets to peg things back as he finished off with impressive figures of 4 for 23 from his 4 overs.

However Kamran Akmal launched a calculated assault on the Indians as he hit 92 runs off 50 balls that contained 5 boundaries and 6 sixes. The bowlers were left clueless as Akmal and Shoaib Malik destroyed any chances of an Indian win.

Pakistan won the game by 5 wickets with 5 balls to spare. While this may have been just a warm-up, the intensity of the match was anything but warm. For Pakistan this win boosts their confidence before their campaign starts and India have to clean up their act before the big matches.