Asia Cup 2023: India set 267-run target for Pakistan

Pallekele: India on Saturday set a 267-run target for Pakistan in much anticipated clash of Asia Cup 2023 at kandy groun of Pallekele.

The strong partnership of Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya led their side to a strong position as they scored 82 and 87, respectively. Kohli could make only 4 runs while Rohit Sharma returned to the pavilion after making 11 runs off 22 balls.

Shaheen Shah Afridi took four wickets, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took three wickets each. The rain disrupted the match twice soon as the both sides reached the ground to face each other.

All 1️⃣0️⃣ wickets by the pace trio! 🔥

Superb bowling in the death overs to dismiss India for 266 in 48.5 overs 🎯#PAKvIND | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/RuGPkSPmEH

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) September 2, 2023

The early fall of wickets put India under pressure but Kishan and Pandya stayed on the crease and defused the pressure

This was the first ODI between the two traditional rivals since their clash in the 2019 World Cup. This contest may not have huge significance in the context of the Asia Cup as two out of three teams from each group make it into the Super Fours. The third team in India and Pakistan's group is Nepal.

Even though Pakistan are the official hosts of the tournament, the Indian government didn't allow the team to travel to Pakistan, which meant the contest had to take place at a neutral venue: Pallekele in Sri Lanka.

India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Agha Salman, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Haris Rauf