It was always India&rsquo;s game once they restricted Pakistan to 130 for 7. MS Dhoni&rsquo;s men got the job done with reasonable ease in the end, thanks to two fifty-plus partnerships &mdash; between Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli-Suresh Raina. They built superbly on the platform set by the spinners to earn India a seven-wicket win.
<img title="Shikhar Dhawan" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/mar/Shikhar-Dhawan2203.jpg" alt="" /> Shikhar Dhawan negotiates a short delivery during India&rsquo;s World T20 opener against Pakistan in Mirpur yesterday. Pic/AFP.
Panic at the start Ahmed Shehzad was really feeling the pressure at the start, his inexperience of India-Pakistan contests clearly showing. His half-hearted call saw Kamran Akmal being run out in the second over.
<img title="MS Dhoni" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/mar/MS-Dhoni2203.jpg" alt="" /> MS Dhoni
Tight Powerplay overs Dhoni rotated Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and R Ashwin for the first six overs. The trio bowled accurately as Pakistan scored just 34 runs in the first six overs.
Brilliant spinners Dhoni&rsquo;s call to play three spinners, including leggie Amit Mishra turned out to be a masterstroke. They conceded just 63 runs between them in 12 overs, picking up three&nbsp;crucial wickets. Man of the Match Mishra turned the ball a lot, finishing with figures of 2-22.
<img title="Yuvraj Singh" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/mar/Yuvraj-Singh2203.jpg" alt="" /> Yuvraj Singh is bowled by Bilawal Bhatti
Solid partnership Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal resurrected the Pakistan innings with a 42-ball 50-run partnership, and looked set to take Pakistan to the 150-run mark. But&nbsp;India came back by&nbsp;conceding just eight runs in three overs (16 to 18) and picking up both the set batsman.
Strong opening India got a 54-run opening wicket stand from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The latter played a very patchy knock, and threw it away by trying to hook Umar Gul despite India having scored 13 runs in that over.
Mini-collapse India lost a couple more in the next 13 balls, and it looked like game on, for a moment, with the scoreboard reading 65 for three.
Killer blow But India&rsquo;s best T20 batsmen on form, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, ran away with the game from there on with some good, sensible and still aggressive batting.&nbsp;The duo came up with an unbroken 66&ndash;run stand off just 50 deliveries. Kohli remained unbeaten on 36 (32 balls), while Raina&rsquo;s unbeaten 35 took 28 balls.
Point to ponder Yuvraj Singh dropped a catch, conceded 12 runs in his only over, and got out for one. Would Ajinkya Rahane do any worse?

mid-day's view on Friday's India vs Pakistan World T20 match

World T20: Shikhar Dhawan chose the wrong time to over-attack Pakistan

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World T20: Shikhar Dhawan chose the wrong time to over-attack Pakistan

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