India beats Pakistan with only 2 balls left to win cricket’s Asia Cup but refuses to receive trophy

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — India held its nerve in the last over to win cricket’s Asia Cup for the ninth time with a five-wicket victory over archrival Pakistan in Sunday’s final with only two balls remaining.

In the final twist of an occasionally troubled tournament, the Indian team declined to receive the trophy and winners’ medals from Mohsin Naqvi — head of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Asian Cricket Council, and also Pakistan's interior minister — and the tournament ended without either presentation.

Tilak Varma scored 69 not out for India off 53 balls, including a crucial six against Haris Rauf in the 20th over.

Rinku Singh hit the winning runs with a four — the only ball Singh faced in the entire tournament.

Put into bat, Pakistan had earlier collapsed from 113-1 to 146 all out in 19.1 overs at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

That looked like being enough after defending champion India’s terrible start to its innings, dropping to 20-3 after four overs, including the prized wicket of Abhishek Sharma (5).

But Varma and Shivam Dube (33) led the recovery as India reached 150-5 in 19.4 overs.

Varma added 57 off 50 balls with Sanju Samson (24) but the game-changing partnership was between Varma and Dube (33 off 22 balls). The duo added 60 off 40 balls to snatch the game out of Pakistan’s hands.

It was India’s second T20 Asia Cup victory after 2016, and ninth overall since 1984, across formats.

This was the first India-Pakistan final in Asia Cup history, which started in 1984. The two sides had already met twice earlier in this tournament – in group play and Super Four — both won comfortably by India.

India’s cricketers refused to shake hands with Pakistan after both those games and there were no handshakes at Sunday’s toss or at the end of the game.

India’s chase got off to the worst possible start with a rare failure for aggressive opener Sharma. He was out caught for five off Faheem Ashraf.

Ashraf struck again to send back Shubman Gill for 12, while Shaheen Afridi got rid of skipper Suryakumar Yadav for just one.

Yadav’s miserable tournament ended with a total of 72 runs, while Sharma finished as the top run-scorer – 314 runs in seven innings at average 44.85 and strike-rate 200.

“It was not easy breaking into a T20 World Cup-winning team, but I backed myself," Sharma said. “More importantly, the captain and coach have backed me.”

But India was in deep trouble at 36-3 in the powerplay. Varma and Samson calmly rebuilt the innings without taking unnecessary risks. Samson faced 21 deliveries and only hit one six.

Samson was out in the 13th over, caught off spinner Abrar Ahmed, leaving India still needing another partnership.

Varma and Dube met the challenge. Dube hit two sixes and two fours, while Varma reached 50 off 41 balls.

Overall, Varma hit three fours and four sixes. He stayed calm even when Dube was out in the penultimate over.

Rauf bowled the final over with India needing 10 more runs for victory, and Varma got eight of them off the first two balls – including his fourth six. Singh then finished off with two balls to spare.

“It was a pressure situation but I just wanted to bat till the end,” Varma said. “They were mixing up the pace and bowling well. Sanju (Samson) was fantastic and Shivam (Dube) was helpful under pressure. I was backing my game and wanted to finish for my country.”

Earlier, Pakistan fumbled a great start and lost its last nine wickets for 33 runs in 39 deliveries.

Sahibzada Farhan (57 runs in 38 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (46 in 35) had given Pakistan a solid start at 84-0 but No. 3 Saim Ayub (14) was the only other Pakistan batter to reach double figures. Farhan hit five fours and three sixes.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav took 4-30 in four overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel claimed two wickets each.

Bumrah claimed the last wicket as Pakistan’s innings ended in 19.1 overs.

Pakistan had enjoyed the powerplay – scoring 45 without loss — and was 87-1 at the halfway point.

Kuldeep Yadav broke the back of Pakistan’s innings, dismissing Salman Agha (8), Shaheen Afridi (0) and Ashraf (0) as the lower-middle order wilted under pressure. The turning point had come when Zaman was out caught in the 15th over against Chakravarthy.

The presentation ceremony was delayed for an hour after the final ball.

The Pakistan team collected its individual medals. Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma collected their individual awards – player of the match and tournament, respectively — but not from Naqvi.

However, the Indian team did not reappear for the trophy presentation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation,” presenter Simon Doull announced.

Later, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that the team had refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi.

Instead the Indian team celebrated on the ground and posed for photographers – without their medals or the trophy.

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

There were no handshakes at Sunday’s toss where India skipper Suryakumar Yadav spoke with former India cricketer-turned-broadcaster Ravi Shastri and Pakistan captain Agha talked with former Pakistan cricketer-turned-broadcaster Waqar Younis.

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

Team India celebrates after winning the Asia Cup cricket final against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Tilak Varma reacts after India won the Asia Cup cricket final against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Tilak Varma celebrates his fifty runs during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Tilak Varma, left, and batting partner Shivam Dube touch gloves during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Tilak Varma bats during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A private security guard pacifies India and Pakistani fans during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after taking the catch of Pakistan's Saim Ayub during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman, left, and batting partner Sahibzada Farhan run between the wickets during the Asia Cup Cricket match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian players celebrate the wicket of Pakistan's captain Salman Agha during the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's fans cheer for their team before the start of the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan to begin at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's Abhishek Sharma, left, and teammate Shubman Gill have a chat before the start of the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's and Pakistan's fans carry their national flags as they wait for the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan to begin at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Pakistan's captain Salman Agha, left, and India's captain Suryakumar Yadav, center, walk out on to the field for the national anthems before the Asia Cup cricket final between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.

The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.

A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.

“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.

Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.

The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”

FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)