Skipper Rohit Sharma glittering 59-ball 74 and Shubman Gill’s brilliant 62-ball 67 helped India to crush Nepal by 10 wickets to seal a Super Four spot in the fifth match of Asia Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Chasing a target of 145 in 23 overs in a rain-affected match, India's openers treated the Nepali bowlers with utter contempt and completed the equation with 17 balls to spare.
Rohit Sharma smashed six boundaries and five towering sixes and was ably supported by Shubman Gill, who looked belligerent for his 62-ball, lacing with eight fours and one maximum.
Earlier, when India came to bat to chase the actual equation of 231 runs, the precipitation started.
After the resuming of the play, India scored 31 in five overs in the mandatory powerplay. They had 23 overs in total to chase the new equation of 145.
India's batters were cautious early on but accelerated after gaining confidence. In 82 balls, Sharma and Gill racked up 100.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Nepal got off to a flying start. They scored 65 in the mandatory power play.
The highlight of the Nepal innings was a circumspect knock from Aasif Sheikh, who scored an 88-ball 50, studded with seven boundaries, and paved the way for his side to show some prowess with the bat. Aasif Sheikh was ably supported by Bhurtel (29).
Sompal also played a decent knock to extend the equation against India.
It was Ravindra Jadeja’s brilliance with the bowl that mounted pressure on the Nepali batters. Mohammad Siraj was also too challenging for the Nepali batters to face, courtesy of the way he executed his variations. Jadeja (3-40) and Siraj (3-61) bagged three wickets apiece.
Mohammad Shami (1-29), Hardik Pandya (1-34), and Shardul Thakur (1-26) picked up a wicket each.
Kuldeep Yadav, who rarely provided the young opponents any room to flex their muscles and conceded merely 34 in his 10 overs, However, he remained wicketless.
Afghanistan will take on Sri Lanka in the sixth match of the tournament at Gaddafi Stadium tomorrow.
