Host Pakistan at risk of early exit from Champions Trophy after losing to Kohli's India by 6 wickets

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Virat Kohli’s 100 not out led India to a six-wicket win over arch rival Pakistan in their Group A clash at the Champions Trophy on Sunday, putting the cricket tournament hosts at risk of a potential early exit.

Kohli reached 14,000 runs in ODIs on his way to a record-extending 51st hundred as India finished with 244-4 in 42.3 overs. Shreyas Iyer scored 56 off 67 balls as he and Kohli put on 114 runs off 128 balls for the third wicket.

Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav took 3-40 and Pakistan was bowled out for 241 in 49.4 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat.

Saud Shakeel top-scored with 62 off 76 and shared a 104-run stand with skipper Mohammad Rizwan (46).

The rivals met at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium despite Pakistan hosting the tournament, as India is playing its league games – and potential knockout matches – in the United Arab Emirates.

Pandya took 2-31 in eight overs as Pakistan finished with an under-par score against the disciplined Indian bowling attack.

India tops the group with four points and has virtually secured its semifinal place. It will play New Zealand in its final league game in Dubai on March 2.

Pakistan flies back to take on Bangladesh on Thursday, with a painful exit looming from its home tournament.

Chasing a modest 242, Rohit Sharma provided a speedy start for India. He hit three fours and a six in his 20 off 15 balls.

He put on 31 off 30 balls for the first wicket with Shubman Gill, who continued his good form to score 46.

Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled Sharma with a searing yorker in the fifth over, but Gill hit a flurry of boundaries against the pacer to knock him out of the attack.

In all, Gill hit seven fours and added 69 runs off 75 balls with Kohli for the second wicket. India was in control of the chase when Abrar Ahmed bowled Gill with a sharp turner in the 18th over.

Abrar finished with 1-28 in 10 overs, but he didn’t enjoy much support from other bowlers. Pakistan also dropped two catches – both Gill and Iyer got lives.

Kohli reached 50 off 62 balls and controlled the game’s pace at will. He hit seven fours in all.

Iyer, at the other end, took his time before opening up with five fours and a six. He reached 50 off 63 balls, and then was caught brilliantly by Imam ul Haq at extra cover.

Pandya went cheaply but Kohli stayed put – in Axar Patel’s company – reaching his hundred off the last delivery of the game, a cover drive through extra cover.

In doing so, Kohli also became the quickest to cross the 14,000-run mark in ODIs – he did so in 287 innings, as compared to compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s 350 innings.

Kohli was player of the match.

“It feels good to be able to bat in that manner to seal qualification in an important game," Kohli said. “We lost Rohit early and my job was to control the middle overs against spin without taking too many risks. It allowed me to play my usual ODI game.”

This was after Pakistan struggled on a two-paced pitch under humid conditions.

Pakistan did get off to a comfortable start with Babar Azam scoring five boundaries in 23 off 26 balls. He was then caught behind off Pandya in the ninth over. Axar Patel ran out Imam in the next over as Pakistan was down to 47-2.

Shakeel and Rizwan were defiant in their 108-run stand for the fourth wicket, but it came at a slow pace.

Rizwan perished trying to force the pace, bowled off Patel in the 34th over, even as Shakeel scored his fourth half-century off 63 balls. Shakeel hit five fours.

Yadav then came into the act – he dismissed Salman Agha (19) and was on a hat trick later in the spell but missed it.

Pandya dismissed Shakeel in the 35th over, caught in the deep. Khushdil Shah scored 38 off 39 balls to keep the lower-order ticking, but it was too little to make a sizable contribution to the Pakistan total.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

India's Virat Kohli, left, and Axar Patel celebrate after winning against Pakistan during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Virat Kohli, left, and Axar Patel celebrate after winning against Pakistan during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Virat Kohli hits winning runs during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Virat Kohli, left, congratulates his fellow batsman Shreyas Iyer after he scored fifty runs during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

An Indian fan holds a placard as they arrive to watch the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's captain Rohit Sharma, left, shakes hand with his Pakistan's counterpart Mohammad Rizwan before the coin toss for the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's captain Rohit Sharma, right, shakes hand with his Pakistan's counterpart Mohammad Rizwan after the coin toss for the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Players of India stands for their national anthem before the start of ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Players of Pakistan stand for their national anthem before the start of ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Pakistan's captain Mohammad Rizwan, centre, tosses the coin, as India's captain Rohit Sharma, right, looks on before the start of ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)