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Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill took India home with an unbroken century partnership
Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh gave Nepal a sound start posting 65 for the first wicket
India’s Ravindra Jadeja put the brakes on the Nepal batting with three middle order wickets
Sompal Kami played an important knock of 48 to see Nepal past the 200-run mark
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Seven times Asia Cup champions India qualified for the Super Fours of the ongoing Asia Cup beating newcomers Nepal by 10 wickets on the DLS method after rain had curtailed the match twice played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Nepal batting first put up a spirited batting performance against a strong Indian bowling line-up to score 230. India’s reply was cut short at 17-0 off 2.1 overs when rain interrupted play. When play resumed after nearly two hours India’s revised target was 145 off 23 overs.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill made short work of that mark racing to it in a matter of 20.1 overs with both batsmen scoring half-centuries apiece. Against an easy opposition, Sharma scored 74* off 59 balls (6 fours, 5 sixes) and Gill 67* off 62 balls (8 fours, 1 six) batted effortlessly to ease India into the Super Fours.
India tied on three points with Pakistan to qualify from Group A, with Nepal failing to make it, losing both their matches. Bangladesh have already booked their place in the Super Fours from Group B, with the second team to be decided today after the match between defending champions Sri Lanka and Afghanistan at Lahore.
Nepal put up a resolute batting performance after Rohit Sharma decided to give his bowlers an opportunity to loosen their limbs after the game against Pakistan saw them only bat before the rain washed out play.
India began in a rather uncharacteristic manner giving a sloppy display on the field by dropping three catches in the first five overs.
Kushal Burtel was let off at one and at seven off Mohammed Shami the replacement for Jasprit Bumrah who had returned to India for the birth of his son, and his opening partner Aasif Sheikh was given a life at one off Mohammed Shiraj.
The openers made full use of the lapses to lay a solid foundation for Nepal with an opening stand of 65 off 59 balls, Bhurtel, the aggressor made 38 off 25 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes), while Aasif went onto complete a wonderful half-century against a world class bowling attack - 58 off 97 balls, (8 fours), his 10th in ODIs.
The Nepal middle order failed to capitalise on this splendid start as they stuttered against spin and slipped to 144-6. Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav took control of the middle overs putting a brake on the scoring rate which led to the downfall of wickets in succession. Jadeja finished with three wickets for 40 in his 10 overs, which brought him level on 22 wickets with Irfan Pathan as the leading wicket-taker for India in the Asia Cup. Kuldeep although wicketless bowled with a lot of control conceding 34 runs in his quota of overs.
The Indian fast bowlers overused the short ball and were punished by the Nepalese top order batters who pounced on them to help themselves to some easy boundaries. Siraj was the most expensive going for 61 runs although he picked up three wickets. Shami, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur bowled economically well.Nepal’s lower order showed a lot of fight and failed to be overawed by the occasion of playing one of the best teams in the world. They contributed a further 86 runs for the last four wickets with 50 of them coming in a partnership for the seventh wicket between Dipendra Singh Airee (29) and Sompal Kami who batted fearlessly to hit two sixes and a four in his knock of 48 off 56 balls.
Scores: Nepal 230 (48.2) (Kushal Bhurtel 38, Aasif Sheikh 58, Gulan Jha 23, Dependra Singh Airee 29, Sompal Kami 48, Mohammed Siraj 3/61, Ravindra Jadeja 3/40)
India 147-0 (20.1) (Rohit Sharma 74*, Shubman Gill 67*)
