DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Hardik Pandya starred with bat and ball to lead India to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in a last-over Twenty20 thriller in the Asia Cup on Sunday.

Chasing 148 for victory, Ravindra Jadeja, who hit 35, and Pandya, unbeaten on 33, put on a key fifth-wicket stand of 52 as India achieved the target with two balls to spare in Dubai.

Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pandya shared seven wickets to set up victory for India in their opening match as they bowled out Pakistan for 147.

Pandya, who returned figures of 3-25 with his medium-pace bowling, then stood calm to hit the winning six in a tense chase in the six-nation tournament which acts as a tune-up for the T20 World Cup in October-November in Australia.

India, who lost their previous match with to Pakistan by 10 wickets in last year’s T20 World Cup at the same venue, improved their win-loss record to 8-2 against the arch-rivals in Virat Kohli’s 100th T20 International.

Debutant pace bowler Naseem Shah stood out for Pakistan with figures of 2-27 but a foot injury in the last few overs had him limping as India took control with the right-left batting pair of Pandya and Jadeja.

Virat Kohli scored 35 before falling to Nawaz’s left-arm spin that also claimed skipper Rohit Sharma for 12.

Naseem struck early with the wicket of KL Rahul for nought as the opener dragged an express delivery on to his stumps.

The 19-year old Naseem nearly got Kohli out two balls later only for Fakhar Zaman to drop a catch at second slip.

Kohli, who has endured a prolonged lean patch and recently spoke of his mental health struggles, overcame initial jitters and seemed to find his flow with a few convincing boundaries including a wristy drive over mid-on before getting out.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan

M Rizwan c Avesh b Pandya 43

B Azam c Arshdeep b Kumar 10

F Zaman c Karthik b Avesh 10

I Ahmed c Karthik b Pandya 28

K Shah c Jadeja b Pandya 2

S Khan lbw b Kumar 10

A Ali c Yadav b Kumar 9

M Nawaz c Karthik b Arshdeep 1

H Rauf not out 13

N Shah lbw b Kumar 0

S Dahani b Arshdeep 16

Extras (b1, w4) 5

Total (all out, 19.5 overs) 147

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Azam),

2-42 (Fakhar), 3-87 (Iftikhar),

4-96 (Rizwan), 5-97 (Khushdil),

6-112 (Asif), 7-114 (Nawaz),

8-128 (Shadab), 9-128

(Naseem), 10-147 (Dahani)

Bowling: Kumar 4-0-26-4,

Arshdeep 3.5-0-33-2 (w2),

Pandya 4-0-25-3 (w2), Avesh 2-0-19-1, Chahal 4-0-32-0,

Jadeja 2-0-11-0

India (target 148)

R Sharma c Iftikhar b Nawaz 12

KL Rahul b Naseem 0

V Kohli c Iftikhar b Nawaz 35

R Jadeja b Nawaz 35

S Yadav b Naseem 18

H Pandya not out 33

D Karthik not out 1

Extras (lb5, w9) 14

Total (5 wickets, 19.4 overs)

148

Did not bat: B Kumar, Y Chahal,

A Khan, A Singh

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Rahul),

2-50 (Rohit), 3-53 (Kohli), 4-89

(Suryakumar), 5-141 (Jadeja)

Bowling: Naseem 4-0-27-2 (w2),

Dahani 4-0-29-0 (w4), Rauf 4-0-

35-0 (w3), Shadab 4-0-19-0,

Nawaz 3.4-0-33-3

Toss: India

Result: India won by 5 wickets

Umpires: Masudur Rahman (BAN), Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)

TV Umpire: Raveendra Wimalasiri (SRI)

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)