Daily Times

KANDY: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill smashed fifties and the Indian openers returned unbeaten helping India beat Nepal by 10 wickets in the fifth fixture of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka on Monday. With the win, India stormed into the Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours stage, joining Pakistan as the second team to advance from Group A. India were handed a revised target of 145 runs courtesy of DLS method which they chased down with 17 balls remaining. The play was halted due to rain but the groundsmen worked hard to keep the ground quickly after the rain stopped in Pallekele. The 50-over tournament is a tune-up for the upcoming one-day international World Cup in India but persistent rain has affected the event, forcing organisers to discuss a venue change for upcoming matches in Colombo. India’s opening match against Pakistan was abandoned due to rain after one innings. Skipper Rohit, on four, and Gill, on 12, were batting when rain interrupted play for the second time in the match after a 60-minute break during the Nepal innings.

Earlier, Aasif Sheikh and Sompal Kami helped Nepal set up a competitive 231-run target for India. The Asia Cup debutants got off to a lucky start as the Blues dropped three catches in the first five overs and bottled their chance to have a dream start. The opening duo of Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh scored 65 runs before Shardul Thakur struck to provide the first breakthrough to India.

Aasif played a responsible knock where he completed his well-deserved fifty but the right-handed batter fell to Mohammad Siraj for 58 runs. After Aasif’s wicket, Nepal kept on losing wickets at intervals but it was Kami who took his team over the line and played a crucial knock of 48 off 56 deliveries. Dipendra Singh Aree and Gulshan Jha also played an important cameos scoring 29 and 23 runs respectively. Earlier today, India won the toss and decided to bowl first against Nepal in their final group-stage match as they made one change to their side, Mohammad Shami replaced Jasprit Bumrah.