Mirpur: When it seemed India would cruise past the paltry target of 83 runs set by Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday, Mohammad Amir produced a superb first over sending off in-form Rohit Sharma (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (0) back to the pavilion in the very first over of the innings, putting India on the backfoot.

He again struck in his second over, getting Suresh Raina (1) caught by Wahab at mid on after the left-handed batsman got a leading edge to Amair’s ball, giving him his third wicket of the day.

However, Virat Kohli had other plans and steered away the Pakistani bowlers’ onslaught along with veteran Yuvraj Singh, who played a slow but sensible innings in those conditions. Kohli did produce some of his vintage shots, hitting seven boundaries, but fell one run short of his half century when Mohammad Sami trapped him in front of the wickets at 49 in the 15th over. But by that time India were already in a safe position, requiring eight runs in 35 balls with six wickets remaining.

Though India lost one wicket in Hardik Pandya just two balls after Kohli departure, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh remained unbeaten to take India to a five-wicket win over their arch-rivals, with 27 balls remianing.

Earlier, Indian bowlers were at their best, restricting Pakistan to just 83 runs by dismissing all their batsmen in 17.3 overs. Pandya was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets giving away just eight runs in 3.3 overs. Ravindra Jadeja walked away with two wickets, while Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuvraj Singh took one wicket each.