Asia Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan Match Called Off Due To Rain, Pakistan Qualify For Super Four Stage
India and Pakistan's match in the group stage has been called off because of rain. Both teams have one point. This gives Pakistan a total of three points from two games. When they won their first game against Nepal, they earned two points.
They are now in the Super Four round. India has one point right now, and to move on to the Super Four level, they must beat Nepal in their next game on September 4.
In their innings, India had a score of 266/10 after 48.5 overs. Men in Blue were helped by the return of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, but they didn't get to show off their bowling skills because it started to rain.
Ishan Kishan's unbridled 82 and Hardik Pandya's brilliant hitting at Pallekele helped India score 266 after Pakistan's fast bowlers broke up their top order in the first game of their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on Saturday at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
India's score of 266 was built on a stand of 138 runs by Kishan and Pandya off of 140 balls. Pakistan's fast bowlers were too good for the Indian batters, and in 48.5 overs, they got the Men in Blue out for 266.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was the most destructive player for Pakistan. He took out India's top four batsmen—Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja—and broke up their top order. Each of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah took three wickets.
When Pakistan was up to bat first, captain Babar Azam gave the new ball to pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. Afridi almost got what could have been their big breakthrough, but India's captain Rohit Sharma got lucky because the square leg keeper dropped the catch. On the second throw of the game, the ball got away for a four.
Rain stopped the game after 4.2 overs, when India was up 15-0. Rohit took a clear approach and made the Pakistan bowlers work hard, taking advantage of the great conditions for hitting. Shubman Gill, on the other end, took his time getting to the pitch.
Rain stopped the play for about half an hour, and then it started up again. India took a big hit when Afridi hit Rohit with an inswinging ripper delivery that got through his cover.
Rohit's dismissal brought Virat Kohli to the middle, where he showed off his skills with a classic cover drive. The Indian top order had no answer for Afridi's excellent attack, and Kohli's time at the crease was cut short by Pakistan's best fast bowler. On Afridi's good length ball, Kohli hit the ball over his stumps.
The ball then hit Kohli's back pad, changed direction, and fell on the stumps. This put a lot of pressure on India. Rohit and Kohli were sent back to the dugout by Afridi's lethal in-swingers. After 7 overs, India was in trouble at 30-2 because of the early hits.
The next person to bat was Shreyas Iyer, who hit with his right hand. After that, India kept scoring thanks to right-handed Iyer and left-handed Gill, even though the rate of scoring slowed.
Iyer hit Haris Rauf for two fours by hitting the ball right between the fielders at mid-on and mid-wicket. Iyer made a mistake that sent the ball high into the air. It fell right in Fakhar Zaman's hands at mid-wicket, where he took a sharp catch of Haris Rauf's short ball.
Rain stopped the game again when India was at 51/3 after 11.2 overs. India's innings was stopped because of rain, but Kishan started it back up with a six off of Rauf's ball. Shubman Gill, who is struggling and trying hard to find his form, failed again with his bat in situations he wasn't used to. Gill's trouble with the bat continued in the 15th over.
Rauf beat Gill by giving a longer-than-good-length speech. Gill's groan and Rauf's very loud roar told the whole story of the over. The right-handed hitter Hardik Pandya then stepped up to the plate. As he moved forward and opened his bat face to hit the ball to third man, he hit a four to let everyone know he was there.
With four wickets already lost, Kishan didn't hesitate to play offensive shots. From that point on, Kishan and Pandya drove India's innings, and in less than 20 overs, they got their team's score over the 100-run mark. India's score after 20 overs of play was 102/4.
After the first half of the game, Pandya and Kishan did a great job of keeping the Indian team from sinking by switching the strike and not letting the Pakistan bowlers get comfortable. They also hit any loose balls that came their way.
Kishan was repaid for not being afraid, as the batter got to 50 in 54 runs during a high-pressure game. Pandya came to the party and made a good fifty in 62 balls.
Pandya and Kishan passed the 100-run partnership mark. When Men in Blue were up against a strong Pakistan pace attack, the two kept the score going.
In the 38th over of the game, Rauf got rid of well-set opener Kishan, ending the huge 138-run partnership. The India opener was out after scoring 82 runs off of 81 balls. Ravindra Jadeja, who can do many things, then came out to bat. In the 40th over, Pandya used a clever touch to hit Rauf for three boundaries, scoring 12 runs.
Afridi was put back into the game, and the dangerous Pandya, who was almost to his century, was taken out by the fast bowler Afridi. Pandya went back to the dugout after a stunning innings of 87 runs off 90 balls. Ravindra Jadeja was out for 14 in the same over, which was taken by Afridi.
Pakistan's fast bowlers didn't let India get their feet on the ground. In the 45th over, Shardul Thakur was out for 3 when Naseem Shah took him out. Then Jasprit Bumrah came out to bat and attacked Pakistan's fast bowlers right away.
In the 49th over, Naseem got rid of Kuldeep Yadav with a good-length delivery. On the fifth delivery of the game, Pakistan's fast bowler got rid of Bumrah, and India was out for 266 after 48.5 overs.
India beat Pakistan with a score of 266 (Hardik Pandya with 87, Ishan Kishan with 82, and Shaheen Afridi with 4–35).