‘A treat to watch’

An unbeaten 82 from Virat Kohli led India to a stunning last-ball win over Pakistan to supercharge their bid for a first Twenty20 World Cup crown since 2007 in front of 90,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

The world number one Indians restricted their fierce rivals to 159-8 and scraped home by four wickets after a remarkable final over, with superstar Kohli the hero.

It looked to be going badly wrong for India as they struggled to just 45-4 off 10 overs, halfway through their chase.

But Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) launched an incredible fightback with a century stand that left India needing 16 off the final over from a nervous Mohammad Nawaz, who peppered it with wides and no-balls to help them to their target.

India great Sachin Tendulkar led the praise of Kohli's masterclass in Melbourne.

"It was undoubtedly the best innings of your life. It was a treat to watch you play, the six off the back foot in the 19th over against Rauf over long on was spectacular!," Tendulkar twitted.

"The game of nerves today but we had it on our side by 95% and then Kohli showed what a world class match winning innings looks like. Well played by both teams, great match!," former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi twitted.

"Geeze I don't think I can ever recall a better game of T20 cricket than what we've just seen at the MCG. Amazing stuff from both teams. Virat's dig one of a kind," former Australia batter Mark Waugh took to social media.

"When you have guys like those batting in the middle you always believe that you're going to get the scores," said India captain Rohit Sharma.

"It was probably one of the best I've witnessed, the partnership, and obviously Virat was brilliant. It's not easy when you have to bowl the last over when you're a spinner," he continued.

A deflated Pakistan captain Babar Azam also paid tribute to Kohli. "Our bowlers bowled really well. We had a chance, we tried to stick to our plans. But credit to Virat Kohli."

Victory was critical in a group that includes South Africa, Bangladesh and qualifiers Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, with only the top two making the semi-finals.

India have largely dominated Pakistan since the late 1990s but had lost two of their three previous clashes including by 10 wickets in the group phase at last year's T20 World Cup and the recent Asia Cup.

But India had been in good recent form, winning home series against Australia and South Africa, riding on the success of their batting line-up.

India had a horror start with KL Rahul out in the first over to Naseem Shah, dragging the ball onto his stumps, then Ahmed took a blinding catch at slip to remove skipper Sharma (4) off Haris Rauf.

That brought Suryakumar Yadav, arguably the best T20 batsman in the world, to the crease but he only lasted eight balls, caught behind for a whirlwind 16 off Rauf as the Pakistan fans roared in celebration.

When Patel was run out in the next over, India were reeling at 31-4.

Kohli started slowly but finally found his groove and with Pandya launched a fightback, hitting three sixes in one over off Nawaz.

They still needed 60 runs with five overs remaining. With 28 needed off the last eight balls, Kohli smashed two sixes off Haris Rauf to leave 16 from the final over.

In a breathless final over, Kohli hit another six off a no-ball, then ran three byes after being bowled off the free hit that followed and seeing the ball run away to third man.