Daily Times

COLOMBO: Rain on Sunday forced a blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan into a reserve day after just 24.1 overs of play in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup. India will resume on 147-2 on Monday (today) in the 50-over contest after rain abruptly ended their innings following Pakistan’s decision to bowl first in Colombo. An extra day was a last-minute addition to the Super Four clash — the only game to get the advantage other than the final — after a previous group meeting between the two teams was washed out due to rain in Pallekele. Rain in Sri Lanka, who co-host the tournament alongside Pakistan, has put the organisers in a spin. The tournament is a precursor to the upcoming ODI World Cup. Virat Kohli, on eight, and KL Rahul, on 17, were batting when rain forced the players off and groundstaff worked tirelessly to try and restart the game after showers stopped.

After three inspections, the umpires looked like restarting play, but rain came to have the final say. Skipper Rohit Sharma (56) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (58) gave India a blazing start in a stand of 121 off 100 balls to put Pakistan on the backfoot. The batsmen took on the new-ball pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah with aerial shots in the powerplay when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle. Both Shaheen and Naseem looked menacing in their first spell as the ball kept flying past the bat, and one edge from Gill went between two slips.

Rohit smashed leg-spinner Shadab Khan for two sixes and a four off successive balls in a 19-run over to raise the noise of the Indian fans at a largely empty stadium. Shadab redeemed himself after the first drinks interval to send back Rohit caught out, and Shaheen returned to get Gill in the next over. Scoring dipped as Kohli and Rahul looked to rebuild before rain intervened.

Pakistan won the toss and decided to bowl first against India in the high-voltage clash. At one stage it seemed that a 34-over match would be possible but rain once again returned to dash the hopes of cricket fans. According to the playing conditions, the game will continue from this point today with no overs lost. Pakistan have fielded an unchanged playing XI for this high-voltage clash. Meanwhile, India have made two changes with one of them being forced after Shreyas Iyer picked up a spasm in the back moments before the toss and will be replaced by KL Rahul. Jasprit Bumrah has also replaced Mohammad Shami in India’s lineup. After beating Bangladesh by seven wickets in their first Super Four match, the Men in Green will look forward to continuing their excellent form in the Asia Cup. The group stage match between India and Pakistan on September 2 was washed out in Pallekele.