Asia Cup 2018: Rohit, Dhawan brush aside Pakistan

India produced another dominant performance against Pakistan, cruising to a nine-wicket victory in the Asia Cup on Sunday after a sensational opening-wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

Chasing 238 for victory, India barely gave Pakistan a chance to fight back. Rohit and Dhawan attacked from the outset, putting the Pakistani bowling attack under sustained pressure and taking India close to the target before Dhawan was run out.

Dhawan was dismissed for 114 when India needed only 28 more runs to win. The run-out, completed by Hasan Ali, briefly ended a remarkable opening partnership but did little to change the outcome.

Rohit remained unbeaten on 111 and Ambati Rayudu, who came in after Dhawan's dismissal, scored an unbeaten 12 from 18 balls to complete the chase with plenty of deliveries to spare.

Earlier, Pakistan struggled after being sent in to bat but recovered through a 107-run fourth-wicket partnership between Shoaib Malik and captain Sarfraz Ahmed.

Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq for 10 after a promising 24-run opening stand. Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed him in the eighth over following a successful DRS review.

Fakhar Zaman then fell for 31, trapped leg before wicket by Kuldeep Yadav in the 15th over. Babar Azam's dismissal followed soon after when he was run out while attempting a quick single off Ravindra Jadeja.

At 58 for three, Pakistan were in serious trouble before Malik and Sarfraz steadied the innings. The experienced pair attacked when opportunities arose and brought Pakistan back into contention with a series of boundaries and sixes.

Their partnership was eventually broken by Kuldeep in the 40th over when Sarfraz was dismissed for 44 off 66 balls.

Malik continued to score freely and finished with 78 from 90 deliveries, including four boundaries and two sixes. However, an attempt to accelerate the scoring cost him his wicket when he miscued Jasprit Bumrah to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Late contributions from Asif Ali, who scored 30, Mohammad Nawaz (15) and Shadab Khan (10) helped Pakistan reach 237/7 in their 50 overs.

Bumrah, Chahal and Kuldeep claimed two wickets each for India.

The victory further underlined India's dominance in the tournament and added another disappointing result for Sarfraz Ahmed's Pakistan side. India's disciplined bowling restricted Pakistan to a manageable total before the opening pair dismantled the chase with aggressive strokeplay.

Brief scores: Pakistan 237/7 (Shoaib Malik 78; Jasprit Bumrah 2/29) lost to India 238/1 (Rohit Sharma 111*, Shikhar Dhawan 114).