Finance
Unbeaten fifties by captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill propelled India to the Asia Cup Super Fours stage with a 10-wicket demolition of Nepal in their Group A match on Monday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Rain halted play for two hours after Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj each took three wickets, but Aasif Sheikh and Sompal Kami batted aggressively to guide Nepal to a competitive 230. When the game restarted at 10:15 p.m., India had scored 17 for no loss in 2.1 overs, and the goal had been revised to 145 in 23 overs using the DLS technique.
Sharma (74 not out off 59 balls) and Gill (67 not out off 62 balls) both hit quickfire fifties while stitching an unbroken opening partnership to complete the chase with 17 balls to spare.
While Sharma struck six fours and five sixes, Gill smashed eight fours and a six to ensure India advanced to the next round of the competition, more than making up for careless fielding and a lackluster bowling performance.
Sharma opened India’s chase cautiously, surviving an LBW appeal off Karan KC. Gill stepped outside his crease on the other end and steered Kami for three off-side boundaries. A drizzle started and stalled the proceedings for over two hours, just as Sharma broke the shackles by dancing down the pitch off Karan over mid-on for four.
Gill danced down the pitch to smack through cover after the restart, while Sharma scooped off Karan for another four. Sharma then slog-swept Sandeep Lamichhane twice for scores of four and six. After India had reached fifty in 7.5 overs, Lamichhane was targeted again by Gill, who danced down the pitch to loft him for six.
Sharma continued his assault on the leg-spinner, pulling him for four and slamming a slog-sweep for six. Sharma’s blade produced the most stunning stroke of the innings, whipping a flick against Dipendra Singh Airee for six.
Gill welcomed Kami back by clipping him through backward square leg for four, followed by Sharma plucking over mid-wicket for another four to get his fifty. Sharma pulled Lalit Rajbanshi for another six, while Gill reached his fifty in the same fashion off Lamichhane for four.
Sharma lofted Karan neatly over long-off for six, then cut off Gulsan Jha for four more. Gill then rounded off the chase with a brilliant glance for four to secure India’s victory.
Earlier, after getting skittled out for 104 against Pakistan last week, Nepal put up a far superior batting showing on a two-paced pitch. Sheikh, the wicketkeeper-batter, batted brilliantly, scoring 58 from 97 balls with eight fours.
After an hour of rain, Kami hit a couple shots to push Nepal over the 200-point mark with his 56-ball 48. Nepal were also helped by India’s inconsistent bowling, which included too many short and back-of-length deliveries. There was also shoddy fielding and leading to three catches being dropped in the first five overs and plenty of misfields happening.
Jadeja shone out with 3-40 in a lackluster Indian bowling performance, while Siraj grabbed the same number of wickets but conceded 61 runs in 9.2 overs. Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur each took a wicket, while Kuldeep Yadav conceded only 34 runs in ten overs.
Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli dropped catches of Kushal Bhurtel and Sheikh on successive deliveries after India decided to bowl first. In the sixth over, Ishan Kishan dropped a simple chance off Shami, giving Bhurtel another chance.
Bhurtel and Sheikh took advantage of India’s shelling opportunities by hauling boundaries on bigger deliveries with good timing while handling the pacers’ short-ball attack with finesse via pulls to create a 65-run opening partnership.
India finally broke through in the final power-play over when Thakur got a tiny away movement and forced Bhurtel to nick behind to Kishan. Bhim Sharki was chopped onto Jadeja’s stumps, followed by Rohit Paudel being caught sharply at first slip and Kaushal Malla miscuing a ball to mid-off.
Sheikh, on the other hand, marched forward, pulling, flicking, and driving with ease to hit fifty in the 28th over. In the 30th over, his vigil was broken as his attempted flick took a leading edge to cover off Siraj before Gulsan nicked behind off him.
Airee and Kami pushed a few boundaries before the rain came down. Pandya ended the 50-run partnership after the restart when he trapped Airee lbw. Kami hit sixes on short balls from Siraj and Pandya, before falling two short of his fifty by nicking behind to a diving Kishan off Shami. Lamichhane was run out while Siraj castled Rajbanshi to end Nepal’s innings in the 49th over.
Source:IANS
