The Asia Cup-2023 between India and Pakistan was stopped due to rains at Pallekele Stadium on Saturday. The cricket fans were a bit upset as there was not result and both the teams secured a point each, but the team Pakistan managed to gain entry into the Super 4s of the tournament and their bowlers had a good performance in the first inning of the match.
The play, however, was not possible after India scored 266 in 48.5 overs. But, the Indian players Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) played well with a 138-run, off 141 balls, after losing the first four wickets for 66 runs.
The Asian Cricket Council tweeted that “No result! Both teams get one point each. With Pakistan beating Nepal before, they now sit on three points and have secured a place in the super 4s. India has to beat Nepal in their next fixture to qualify!
In view of the weather forecast both the teams’ captains were in a mood to bat first. However, Indian Captain Roshit Sharma called the toss and decided to bat first. Initially, India’s performance was not well and it was at 66 off 4 but it fought it back with a tremendous partnership between Kishan and Hardik of 138 runs. Ishan Kishan scored 82 off 81 balls and while the Hardik Pandya made 87 off 90 balls with 7 boundaries and a six.
Ishan Kishan scored his 50 off 54 balls after ambling across for a single off Shadab Khan in the 29th over and got six boundaries and a six. However, Kishan and Hardik partnership proved costlier for the Pakistani pacers who had dismissed top four Indian batsmen including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in just 15 overs.
While the Paskitani bowlers including Shaheen got 4 wickets, and Rauf, Naseem, and Shah also got three wickets each to stop Indian batsmen scoring to 300 runs mark. When Hardik and Ishan were playing in the ground it looked as if India would score 300 runs and both of them registered a fantastic 50s. Unfortunately, the match was called off owing to the rains and the teams were given one point each.