Asia Cup 2023: India qualify for Super four after beating Nepal

Pallekele:  Indian reached Super four after beating Nepal by 10 wickets at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

The rain disrupted the match after which the DLS method was adopted to decide the victory of the match.  India scored 147 runs in the 21^st over of the match in a bid to chase the target of 231 runs.

Rohit Sharma scored 74 off 59 balls while his partner Shubhman Gill made 67 off 62 balls. The partnership of the openers led India to a position strong in runs chase.  It was the first encounter of the Nepalese with the Indians in the international cricket.

India's fielding, though, was sloppy - Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan dropped three catches in the first five overs - but overcame those lapses to seize control through spin. India's left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav got turn and variable bounce on a dry Pallekele pitch, which had already been used for the Pakistan-India clash, to keep Nepal to 230.

Nepal's batters were more comfortable against pace, driving languidly in the 'V' and also ramping audaciously in the 'V' behind the wicket. Opener Kushal Bhurtel, who was reprieved twice, punished India with his attacking intent and enterprise. He played arguably the shot of the day when he hooked Mohammed Siraj over square leg and out of the ground. After Bhurtel fell in the final over of the powerplay to Shardul Thakur, his opening partner Aasif Sheikh took over and stabilised the innings with 58 off 97 balls.

ASIA CUP 2023. India Won by 10 Wicket(s) (D/L Method) https://t.co/u83iAj3VLS #INDvNEP

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 4, 2023

Aasif displayed stickability, something Nepal's batters lacked on their Asia Cup debut against Pakistan in Multan. After being dropped by Kohli at short cover in the second over, he accumulated in risk-free fashion and largely played the ball along the ground. When he reached his fifty off 88 balls in the 28th over, he had the Nepali fans grooving in the stands. The Nepali beats that played at the ground added to the revelry.

But Jadeja crashed Nepal's party by dismissing captain Bhim Sharki (7), Rohit Paudel (5) and Kushal Malla (2) between overs 16 and 22. On a two-paced track, he proved difficult to get away with his turn and lack thereof . It wasn't until Jadeja's eighth over that Nepal scored a boundary off him. Kuldeep's stock ball and the wrong'un made life more difficult for Nepal who perhaps aren't used to facing high-quality wristspin.

Kuldeep won an lbw appeal from umpire Paul Wilson in his first over after beating Aasif's sweep, but the batter reviewed successfully to reverse the on-field decision, with ball-tracking indicating that it would have missed off stump. Kuldeep and Jadeja had combined figures of 20-0-74-3.

It was Siraj who ended Aasif's innings in the 30th over when he drew a leading edge, which was caught by Kohli this time. In his next over, Siraj got rid of Gulsan Jha before the drizzle turned into a downpour and stopped play for about an hour. No overs were lost though.

Upon resumption, Hardik trapped Dipendra Singh Airee with an offcutter to leave Nepal at 194 for 7 in the 42nd over. Hardik and Siraj regularly varied their pace and banged the ball into the deck, but Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane found ways to manufacture runs.

Mohammed Shami then extracted some extra bounce to cut Kami's innings short at 48 off 56 balls. Playing his first ODI since March, and only playing because of Bumrah's unavailability on Monday, Shami combined with Siraj to bowl Nepal out for 230 in 48.2 overs.