Virat Kohli played a superb 55 runs knock to help India register a comprehensive 6 wickets at Eden Gardens .[/caption]Kolkata:Virat Kohli played a brilliant 55 runs knock to help India register it's first win of World T20 here at the Eden Gardens . Chasing a moderate target of 119 runs , India were in a spot losing 3 wickets for 23 runs . Mohammad Sami's twin burst in successive balls raised a slight hope for Pakistan. But a match winning partnership of 61 runs off 44 balls between Yuvraj and Kohli paved the way for a comprehensive 6 wickets win for the hosts with 13 balls to spare.
Bringing back the memory of his Asia Cup outing where he stood tall, Kohli was a picture of elegance and determination as his classical batting made the difficult spin conditions look redundant.
Proving his finishing capability once again, Kohli completed 50 from 34 balls en route to his unbeaten 55 (7x4, 1x6) in front of a glittering gathering of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan who were earlier felicitated along side Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan.
With this win India sprung back into reckoning after their 47-run forgettable defeat against New Zealand in the group 2 of super 10 as they have never lost to Pakistan in a World tournament -- six times in World Cup and four times in World Twenty20 including a tie which they won via bowl-out
This is also India's first win against Pakistan in limited overs format at the Eden where the archrivals earlier had a 4-0 record in ODIs but today it seemed their mental blockade came to haunt once agaiin.
Relishing on a spinning track, opting to bowl Indian spinners restricted Pakistan to a modest 118/5 after the match was reduced to 18 overs following a one-hour interruption because of rain and thundershowers.
Plagued by a slow start, Shoaib Malik (26 from 16 balls; 3x4, 1x6) gave the score the push with his fourth wicket partnership with Umar Akmal (22 from 16 balls; 1x4, 1x6).
The duo added 41 runs from four overs in what was the only satisfying part of Pakistan innings which further surprised by dropping the inform Mohammad Hafeez to no 7.
Skipper Shahid Afridi on the other hand promoted himself to 3 after his matchwinning innings 19-ball 49 against Bangladesh but had a forgettable outing with 8 from 14 balls.
If pressure brings out the best in Indians in a world tournament match against their archrivals, it also showed how Pakistan also wilt in a world tournament.
Sami had given a twin breakthrough from successive balls as Dhawan and Raina were beaten by raw pace to leave the match wide open after India were 23/1 from 4.2 overs.
Having introduced in the fifth over, Sami, who was included in place of leftarm spinner Imad Wasim, were despatched for two boundaries as he followed that up with an overstepping no-ball.
Next to follow was a 143.6 kmph screamer and before the lefthander could react the ball took an edge and crashed his gate.
Sami clocked 146.3kph in the next delivery and Raina was equally clueless and the resultant was no different.
But what followed in Sami's next over back to back boundaries by Yuvraj and Kohli followed suit to give the crowd a glimpse of what was to offer as 12-runs in the seventh over shaped India's run chase.
Kohli took the batting to a different level and launched his attack against Shoaib Malik with one six and four as Pakistan seemed to have struggled with their choice of team selection of leaving out leftarm spinner Imad Wasim.
Earlier, runs flowed from Sharma's blade as he dissected the field with ease and for a moment it seemed nothing can go wrong for the Indian opener at a venue where he has an ODI world record 264.
With two exquisite boundaries against the towering Mohammad Irfan to race to 10 from 10 balls, Sharma was full of exuberance and offered a lusty hit against Amir's first ball in the third over.
The timing however eluded him on a wicket which was slow than usual and the ball ballooned up as Malik completed a fine catch in a packed offside field with three fielders.
Earlier, plagued by a slow start, Shoaib Malik (26 from 16 balls; 3x4, 1x6) gave the score the push with his fourth wicket partnership with Umar Akmal (22 from 16 balls; 1x4, 1x6).
The duo added 41 runs from four overs in what was the only satisfying part of Pakistan innings which further surprised by dropping the inform Mohammad Hafeez to no 7.
Skipper Shahid Afridi on the other hand promoted himself to 3 after his matchwinning innings 19-ball 49 against Bangladesh.
The flamboyant 36-year-old was watchful and could not do much on a turning pitch during his forgettable stay at the crease with eight runs from 14 balls (1x4).
He holed one up to the safe hands of Kohli after mistiming his heaving pull against a widish Pandya delivery.
From being 51/2 from 10 overs, Malik and Akmal lifted them to 95/3 in 15 overs with some powerblows especially in the 14th over where Pakistan tasted their first six of the match.
Spotting the slower one early, Malik swung his bat against Hardik Pandya for their first six in 13.4 overs and Akmal did an encore in the last ball of the same over for a productive 15.
Indians were sharp on the field with Pandya's jaw-dropping catch to remove opener Sharjeel Khan, while Sharma was sharp in covers saving some clean boundaries to pump them up.
Ashwin made the ball talking in his very first over and extracted vicious turn and bounce from the surface that was predicted to be flat.
He troubled Sharjeel first up with his flight and got vicious turn from the pitch as Pakistan crawled to five for no loss in the first two overs.
Sharjeel broke the shackles in the last ball of the third over hitting the first boundary for their team when he hit Nehra through square leg.
To negotiate the turn and bounce off the pitch, Shehzad used his feet against Ashwin for another boundary but the Indian bowlers were tidy to restrict Pakistant to 24 for no loss in the five-over powerplay.
A stunning forward diving catch by Pandya finally gave India the first breakthrough with Sharjeel (17) caught at midon off a leading edge from Raina.
Shehjad (25) followed soon with yet another leading edge with Jadeja taking yet another impressive catch runnning back from point as Pakistan were 51/2 at the midway stage.
Currently placed third in a group of five, India were unchanged since their loss to New Zealand on the opening day of the Super 10s.
Pakistan on the other hand added pacer Mohammad Sami to the bace battery pack of the leftarm trio Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Iran and Wahab Riaz. Sami replaced leftarm spinner Imad Wasim.
India face Bangladesh next in Bangalore on March 23.
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