Spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup on Sunday as the neighbours met on the cricket pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May.
Kuldeep returned figures of 3-18 and along with fellow spinner Axar Patel kept Pakistan down to 127-9 in a key Group A T20 clash in Dubai.
India lost two wickets after a fiery 31 off 13 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma, but skipper Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 47 to achieve the target with 25 balls to spare.
Suryakumar, who turned 35 on Sunday, put on 56 runs with left-hander Tilak Varma, who hit 31 before being bowled by Saim Ayub.
The captain stood firm and hit the winning six as Indian fans celebrated at a stadium, which had a lot of empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.
India resisted calls to boycott the match between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan militants.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies.
Suryakumar, in the presentation, said India took the match against Pakistan as “just another game” and dedicated the win to the Indian army.
“We stand with the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said. “We want to dedicate today’s win to the armed forces.”