India see off Nepal threat, set to meet Pakistan next
Nepal showed immense promise and tons of resolve in their first international game against India in the Asia Cup fixture on Monday in Kandy.
After a positive half-century stand to start off their innings, Nepal did well to keep the fight going even as India's spinners made life tough for them between rain interruptions. Aasif Sheikh slammed a half-century from the top of the order, and found good support from the other end.
Although India did not help their cause with three dropped chances early in the innings, credit must go to the Nepal openers to maximise their chances and find the boundary at frequent intervals to put pressure on the Indian bowlers.
India's comeback with the ball saw Nepal reduced to 144/6, but Sompal Kami fired from down the order with a good-looking 48 off just 56 balls to push the score past 200. With valuable runs in the death overs, Nepal put on 230, a score that gave their bowlers a fighting chance.
Rohit Sharma hopes to repeat 2011 magic of winning a home World Cup
Rohit Sharma hopes to repeat 2011 magic of winning a home World Cup
Karan KC then went about working over Rohit Sharma with an excellent opening over, beating the Indian skipper on the inside and outside edge. While a review for an LBW shout turned out to be futile, Nepal had given India an early scare.
Karan continued his impressive spell after the rain break, keeping Rohit in check with some excellent lines and movement off the deck, but once the opener broke the shackles there was no looking back.
Rohit unfurled a variety of shots as he grew in confidence while Gill continued to milk the bowlers for runs as the partnership grew in stature. The revised target of 145 in 23 overs was achieved comfortably as India booked their spot in the Super 4s stage.
Earlier with the ball, Ravindra Jadeja shone for India with a three-wicket haul as did Mohammed Siraj. Kuldeep Yadav kept his end tight with a miserly spell of 10-2-34-0 while Hardik Pandya also proved to be handy as a first-change bowler.
India will play Pakistan next on September 10 before meeting the two teams that qualify from Group B.