Babar Azam scored an impressive hundred while Shoaib Malik smashed a quickfire half century to help Pakistan thump Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first one-day international in Dubai on Friday.
Pakistan will meet Group A toppers England in the first semi-final on Wednesday at the same venue.
Munaf Patel joins Kandy Tuskers in LPL; Sarfaraz pulls out, Malinga unsure
Pakistan's stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez hit a fighting fifty to set up a comprehensive six-wicket victory against Australia in the second one-day international on Sunday that levelled the five-match series.
The most sought-after megastars of the current generation are primed to show their might against a bunch of enigmatic cricketers as India and Pakistan engage in an ICC T20 World Cup face-off, something that transcends the 22-yard strip.
We had good sides in the 1990s, but now I think this India team intimidates Pakistan, says former Pakistan bowling great Waqar Younis.
Afridi, a former Pakistan captain, said his country's drab show took away all the excitement from what was expected to be a high-voltage Group B encounter.
England beat Pakistan by 44 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis scoring method in a rain-affected first One-Day International in Southampton on Wednesday.
The road to the knockout stage for Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men is just an improbable mathematical calculation and that too provided Pakistan win the toss and bat first.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
A defeat against India inevitably gives rise to conspiracy theories and the post match media interaction was no different.
Half-centuries from Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam helped Pakistan outclass Namibia by 45 runs to storm into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
It has traditionally been a battle between India's batting and Pakistan's bowling whenever the arch-rivals have met on a cricket field and Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reckons the trend will continue in their World Twenty20 contest on Saturday. The Pakistan captain is looking to bank on his team's winning record against India the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pakistan have defeated India in all four matches that have played at the Eden Gardens. "We have good memories of the ground," Afridi said. "We have played well at this ground, we know the conditions and the pitch suits us as well." Pakistan were the last team to land in India, putting aside safety concerns that led to the switching of their match against India from Dharamsala to Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
The PCB banned Shehzad for violating anti-doping regulations after he tested positive for a prohibited substance in May and his suspension was scheduled to end on November 10.
Sri Lanka trounced top-ranked Pakistan 3-0 after a 13-run victory in the third and final Twenty20, in front of 27,000 fans at the Gaddafi Stadium, in Lahore, on Wednesday. Needing 54 runs off the last five overs, with eight wickets in hand, Pakistan again stumbled in its run-chase for the third successive time in the series and were restricted to 134-6.
Virat Kohli, on Monday, returned to the top of the International Cricket Council ODI rankings for batsmen after logging career-high rating points, going past the iconic Sachin Tendulkar in the process.
Pakistan will not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semi-final berth.
With both teams virtually out of the semi-final race, South Africa and Pakistan will be battling it out for a consolation win in their World Cup match at Lord's.
Images from Friday's World Cup match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, at Lord's.
England go into the 10-team tournament as the top side in the team rankings with 125 points and India in second position four points behind.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up one place to take a career-best second position in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings after grabbing two for 26 in the final match against New Zealand.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says his team is calm ahead of the big match against arch-rivals India and says he will field a wicket-taking attack on Sunday
Pakistan outclassed South Africa by 19 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit match in the ICC Champions Trophy match, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
Babar Azam hit his maiden century while spinner Mohammad Nawaz grabbed four wickets as Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by 111 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in the first day-night international on Friday. Azam's rapid-fire 139-ball 120 helped Pakistan post a challenging 284-9 in a match reduced to 49 overs a side due to a 70-minute floodlight failure at Sharjah Stadium in the UAE. West Indies -- set 287 to win -- never got close and folded at 175 in 38.4 overs.
The West Indies' fast bowlers produced a ruthless display to dismiss Pakistan for a disappointing 105 in their World Cup opener at Trent Bridge on Friday. In reply, Chris Gayle led the chase, scoring 50 ff 34 deliveries, as the meagre target was overhauled in 13.4 overs.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 2 match between India and Pakistan, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Amir shone as Pakistan defied the odds to overwhelm arch-rivals India by 180 runs and pull off a major upset in the ICC Champions Trophy final.
England have by far been the best team in the tournament.
Their path to the semi-finals looking relatively easier in comparison, Australia will fancy their chances when they lock horns with a struggling Pakistan side whose hopes hangs by a thread in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Friday.
New Zealand secured their third straight win to book a spot in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 after beating Pakistan by 22 runs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali in their Super 10 stage match on Tuesday.
Pakistan will be desperately looking to ensure the painful defeat to India becomes a distant past when they run into an in-form New Zealand in Mohali on Tuesday with an aim to bounce back into the World Twenty20 and pacify their bitter fans back home. Pakistan are coming into the Group 2 Super 10 game having suffered their 11th defeat to the arch-rivals in ICC's world events. The 2009 champions entered the tournament after an early elimination in the Asia Cup. On the other hand, the New Zealanders are on a roll with two massive wins over hosts India and Australia, making them one of the strong contenders to lift the coveted trophy on April 3. Another win and they will be in the knockout stages of the mega-event. New Zealand have emerged as the team to beat after the stunned tournament favourites India first up, before getting the better of traditional rivals Australia in a trans-Tasman battle.
The 50-year-old Lara also gave his opinion as to what the team is required to do to become successful in the longest format of the game.
A cricketing rivalry that transcends beyond the realms of 22-yards will be reignited when India and Pakistan square off in a World Cup encounter that could have fascinating sub-plots with rain gods threatening an anti-climactic twist.
New Zealand's Colin Munro and Ish Sodhi have started the year with a bang after vaulting to the top of the ICC T20I Player Rankings for batsmen and bowlers respectively, following stellar performances in the series against the West Indies, which recently concluded at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
The 16-man squad includes batsmen Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan and fast bowler Jake Ball, who have 11 Test caps between them, as well as three uncapped players in paceman Craig Overton, spinner Mason Crane and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni averages 100-plus in ODIs at M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai -- his tally being 401 in six innings, including two hundreds and a fifty, at an average of 100.25.
Their arrival itself was mired in drama and a mercurial Pakistan would look to bring the focus back on their cricket when they take on an enigmatic Bangladesh.
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