Kathmandu (HamroKhelkud) – Nepal have suffered a convincing 10-wicket loss against India in the second match of Asia Cup 2023. Nepal couldn’t dislodge the Indian opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill who were chasing a target of 145 runs in 23 covers courtesy of a rain delay and D/L method.
India got to the target in just 20.1 overs. Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 75 off 59 deliveries with six fours and five sixes while his partner Shubman Gill remained at the other end on 67 off 62 deliveries with eight fours and a six.
Karan KC gave away 26 runs in four overs for Nepal while Lalit Rajbanshi gave away 24 in as many overs. Sandeep Lamichhane was expensive of the lot giving away 39 in four overs of his spell. Sompal Kami gave 23 runs in just two overs while Dipendra Singh Airee gave away 12 runs in two overs as well. Kushal Malla was economical with just 11 runs given in three overs. Gulshan Jha gave 11 runs in 1.1 overs.
Earlier, Nepal who were sent out to bat after losing the toss, set a target of 231 runs for India in the second match of the Asia Cup 2023. Nepal were bundled over on 230 runs in 48.2 overs. The second innings was halted for quite a while due to rain- hence the overs were shortened and target was revised for India.
Aasif Sheikh, Sompal Kami and Kushal Bhurtel were the pick of the batters in the Nepali innings. Aasif made 58 runs in 97 deliveries with eight boundaries in his innings. Sompal was two runs short of a brilliant half-century as he got out on 48 runs off 56 deliveries with one four and two sixes. Bhurtel made 38 off 25 deliveries with three fours and two sixes.
Nepali openers gave Nepal a brilliant start with a partnership of 65 runs before Kushal was dismissed by Shardul Thakur in the tenth over. Bhim Sharki, who came back into the side today could only manage seven runs in 17 deliveries. He was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja.
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel had an innings to forget once again as he could only score five runs. He was caught by Rohit Sharma in the slips off Jadeja. Kushal Malla was also the victim of Jadeja’s left-arm off-spin and made just two runs. He was caught in mid-off in a similar fashion he got out against Pakistan. Nepal were 101-4 when Malla went back to the pavilion.
Aasif was the next to get dismissed. He was dismissed by Mohammad Siraj and caught by Virat Kohli courtesy of a leading edge. Gulshan scored three boundaries while getting to 23 runs before being sent back to the pavilion by Siraj again. Dipendra Singh Airee made a quickfire 29 off 25 and got out to Hardik Pandya.
Sompal Kami, who came out to bat at number eight, steadied the ship for Nepal later in the innings. He was dismissed by Mohamad Shami on 48 runs, missing out on a well-deserved half-century against a highly superior team. Sandeep Lamichhane made nine runs off 17 and Lalit Rajbanshi was the last to be dismissed with no runs. Karan KC remained unbeaten on two runs.
Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami took three wickets each for India. Mohammad Shami, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur took one wicket apiece.
With this win, India have qualified for the Super Four stage of the tournament along with India from Group A. The Super Four qualifications from Group B will be decided tomorrow with Sri Lanka set to face Afghanistan.
