The surface at the Premadasa Stadium was tacky, the ball also gripping and turning to curb free scoring, but no one had told Ishan Kishan that.

India’s diminutive wicketkeeper-batter produced his second blistering half-century in four nights, taking Pakistan’s vaunted, six-pronged spin attack apart in a sensational display of ball-striking that decisively tilted the T20 World Cup Group A contest India’s way.