Of extras, wickets, six and India beating Pakistan in dramatic last over

Two wickets, two extras, Virat Kohli getting bowled off a free hit and a cool finish by Ravichandran Ashwin, the blockbuster T20 World Cup contest between India-Pakistan climaxed with a dramatic over

Two wickets, two extras, Virat Kohli getting bowled off a free hit and a cool finish by Ravichandran Ashwin, the blockbuster T20 World Cup contest between India and Pakistan climaxed with a dramatic last over.

While the match itself was a classic, the nine-ball last over truly lived up to the expectations and hype generated in the run-up to Sunday's big-ticket game, which was played in front of a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Having completed his half century, Kohli had just turned the game on its head by hitting their most impactful bowler Haris Rauf for two breathtaking sixes -- one a lofted backfoot drive over long-on and another a flick over square leg.

Needing 31 for 12 balls, it all boiled down to 16 from the last over with Kohli in his element and Hardik Pandya looking to explode.

With the Pakistani pace troika of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf having finished their respective quotas, all eyes were on Mohammad Nawaz who had leaked 29 runs from his earlier three overs.

First up, Nawaz brought the Pakistan team on its feet as he foxed Pandya who mistimed a flat delivery. With new rules coming into effect, Kohli was left stranded at the non-striking end.

New man Dinesh Karthik took a single as India needed 15 off four balls.

Switching to left-arm medium pace from spin, Nawaz bowled a wide yorker to deny Kohli a boundary but thanks to his superb running, he managed to steal a two.

There was drama in the very next ball when Kohli hit a waist-high full toss for a six over deep square leg and then appealed for a no ball.

Marais Erasmus at square leg did not indicate anything, leaving umpire Rod Tucker at the bowling end to signal a no ball.

Discussions followed before both the umpires calmed things down, and Nawaz bowled a wide in the next ball in his attempt to keep it out of Kohli's reach.

The wide meant the free hit stayed, else Kohli would have walked back to the dressing room after getting bowled. Instead, the duo ran hard for three.

Needing two off two, the designated finisher Karthik was stumped cleverly by Mohammad Rizwan.

Kohli was on 82 as Ashwin took over with two needed off the last ball.

The seasoned off-spinner looked composed and smartly moved away as Nawaz darted one down the leg side for a wide.

With the scores tied, as many as seven players closed in on Ashwin. But he allayed all fears of a Super Over by calmly clearing the in-field for a single, sparking wild celebrations in the winning camp and among the Indian fans.