India dominates rival Pakistan at Asia Cup, wins by seven wickets

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — India’s spinners scripted a seven-wicket win over archrival Pakistan in the Asia Cup on Sunday with 25 balls remaining.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav took 3-18 in four overs, with 2-18 for left-arm spinner Axar Patel, as Pakistan was restricted to 127-9 in 20 overs after it opted to bat first.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav then scored an unbeaten 47 off 37 balls – including five fours and a six – as India finished with 131-3 in 15.5 overs.

Opener Abhishek Sharma scored 31 off 13, hitting four fours and two sixes.

The Asia Cup marks a resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan only months after the neighbouring countries were engaged in a tense border tension in May that disrupted the IPL and the Pakistan Super League.

India tops Group A after its earlier win over the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan beat Oman and now takes on the UAE on Wednesday.

India will play Oman in its final group game on Friday in Abu Dhabi.

Despite opting to bat, Pakistan failed to make use of good batting conditions. Saim Ayub was out for a second consecutive golden duck in this tournament, caught off Hardik Pandya.

Jasprit Bumrah then sent back in-form Mohammad Haris for three.

Sahibzada Farhan top scored with 40 off 44 balls, hitting three sixes, as he rescued Pakistan from 6-2 in 1.2 overs.

But wickets kept falling at the other end with the Indian spinners dominating proceedings. Yadav and Patel ran through the middle order as Pakistan was reduced to 64-6 in 12.5 overs.

The spin duo shared five wickets for 36 runs across 48 deliveries.

Shaheen Afridi led a lower-order recovery with 33 not out off 16 balls and helped his side cross the 100-run mark. He hit four sixes even as Pakistan finished with an under-par total.

India’s chase had an early blow when losing Shubman Gill for 10 runs. He was stumped off Ayub in the second over.

Sharma though had provided the speedy start as he attacked Afridi’s new-ball spell and took 23 runs off his two overs.

He was caught off Ayub in the fourth over, but India had gathered enough momentum in the powerplay overs with 61-2 after six overs.

Tilak Varma held up one end with a run-a-ball 31, hitting two fours and a six, even as the slow-paced nature of the pitch came to the fore.

Skipper Yadav and Varma added 56 off 52 balls to move India close to the finish line, when Varma fell to Ayub. The off-spinner finished with 3-35 in four overs.

Yadav was there to the end.

“I wanted to stay till the end and win the game. It is just another game for us, but it is human tendency to think about things running in the back of your mind," said Yardav, who turned 35 on Sunday.

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

Indian supporters cheer for their team during the Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

India's Hardik Pandya, right, celebrates with teammate Abhishek Sharma after taking the catch to dismiss Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan during the Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Pakistan players react after their loss in the Asia Cup cricket match against India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Pakistan players greet each other after their loss in the Asia Cup cricket match against India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

India's Hardik Pandya, right, celebrates with teammate Shubman Gill after the dismissal of Pakistan's Saim Ayub during the Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.

District Judge Carl J. Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure.

Norwegian company Equinor owns Empire Wind. Spokesperson David Schoetz said they welcome the court's decision and will continue to work in collaboration with authorities. It’s the second developer to prevail in court against the administration this week.

The Trump administration froze five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Trump has targeted offshore wind from his first days back in the White House, most recently calling wind farms “losers” that lose money, destroy the landscape and kill birds.

Developers and states sued seeking to block the order. Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of plans to shift to renewable energy in East Coast states that have limited land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul applauded the court decision, telling reporters the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.”

“When I heard this I said one thing: I’m the governor of New York, if there is a national security threat off the coast of New York, you need to tell me what it is. I want a briefing right now. Well, lo and behold, they had no answer,” she said.

On Monday, a judge ruled that the Danish energy company Orsted could resume its project to serve Rhode Island and Connecticut. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not sufficiently explain the need for a complete stop to construction. That wind farm, called Revolution Wind, is nearly complete. It’s expected to meet roughly 20% of the electricity needs in Rhode Island, the smallest state, and about 5% of Connecticut’s electricity needs.

Orsted is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York, with a hearing still to be set. Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, plans to ask a judge Friday to block the administration’s order so it can resume construction, too.

Trump has also dismissed offshore wind developments as ugly, but the Empire project is about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) offshore and the Sunrise project is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) offshore.

The fifth paused project is Vineyard Wind, under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined the rest of the developers in challenging the administration on Thursday. They filed a complaint in District Court in Boston.

In contrast to the halted action in the U.S., the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading the world in new installations. Nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable. The British government said Wednesday it secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe’s largest offshore wind auction, enough clean electricity to power more than 12 million homes.

Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, said the Trump administration was right to stop construction on national security grounds. He urged officials to immediately appeal the adverse rulings and seek to halt all work pending appellate review. Opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey.

Empire Wind is 60% complete and designed to power more than 500,000 homes. Equinor said the project was in jeopardy due to the limited availability of specialized vessels, as well as heavy financial losses.

During a hearing Wednesday, Judge Nichols said the government’s main security concern seemed to be over operation of the wind turbines, not construction, although the government pushed back on that contention.

In presenting the government’s case, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr. was skeptical of the perfect storm of horrible events that Empire Wind said would derail their entire project if construction didn’t resume. He disagreed with the contention that the government’s main concern was over operation.

“I don’t see how you can make this distinction,” Woodward said. He likened it to a nuclear project being built that presented a national security risk. The government would oppose it being built, and it turning on.

Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, said in an interview that the company wants to build this project and deliver a major, essential new source of power for New York.

McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report from Albany, New York.

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FILE - Wind turbines operate at Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Wind turbine bases, generators and blades sit along with support ships at The Portsmouth Marine terminal that is the staging area for Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portsmouth, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

FILE - A sign for the company Equinor is displayed on Oct. 28, 2020, in Fornebu, Norway. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)

Blades and turbine bases for offshore wind sit at a staging area at New London State Pier, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in New London, Conn. (AP Photo/Matt O'Brien)