Asia Cup 2023: Nepal vs India Match Preview, Asia Cup 2023: Nepal vs India Match Preview

5th ODI • Pallekele International Cricket Stadium • Kandy

Nepal

230 (48.2)

India

147/0 (20.1)

IND won by 10 wickets (DLS Method)

Info

Fantasy

Live

Scorecard

Stats

Playing XI

Table

Date & Time

04 Sep, 03:00 PM IST

Venue

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Match

5th ODI,

Umpires

Paul Wilson (Australia), Ruchira Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka), Richard Illingworth (England, TV)

Referee

Javagal Srinath (India)

Toss

India elected to bowl

Pitch Report

PitchFast & Bounce

Pace BowlingPace & Bounce

Batting ConditionLow Scoring

Spin BowlingAverage

1st Innings

260Avg Runs

8Avg Wkts

2nd Innings

205Avg Runs

7Avg Wkts

Playing XILineups Out

Points Table

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

IND

0- 0

NEP

Team Form (Recent 5 Matches, Latest First)

India

Nepal

Players to Watch

Top Batters

Sompal Kami

NEP . BOWL

28 Runs

1 Match

Gulshan Kumar Jha

NEP . ALL

13 Runs

1 Match

Kushal Bhurtel

NEP . BAT

8 Runs

1 Match

Top Bowlers

Sompal Kami

NEP . BOWL

2 Wkts

1 Match

Karan KC

NEP . ALL

1 Wkt

1 Match

Sandeep Lamichhane

NEP . BOWL

1 Wkt

1 Match

0 1 0 1 1 0

Over 18

Runs: 3

2 0 1 0 0 4

Over 19

Runs: 7

1 1 0 1 0 0

Over 20

Runs: 3

Over 21

Runs: 4

All Overs

Player of the Match Rohit Sharma

74(59)

Player of the Series Kuldeep Yadav

Commentary

So that concludes our coverage of this contest. A long one considering the rain intervals but we got a result and that's always good to see. We've got one more game left in the group stage as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka fight it out for a spot in the Super Fours themselves in Lahore. Do join us for our coverage of the same right here on Sportskeeda while keeping yourselves updated with all the other cricketing news from around the world, including India's World Cup squad announcement, on this very platform. For the moment, this is the duo of Shashwat Kumar and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for tuning in as we hope you enjoyed our coverage. See you around soon - good night and take care!

Modest about his batting performance but clear about where the team needs to work on heading into the Super Fours - Rohit Sharma knows what needs to be done and it's a long break of five days that the Indians have now between today and their Super Four opener against Pakistan on Sunday, September 10. Jasprit Bumrah ought to be back for that contest but there remain a few other boxes for the team to tick off even as the squad for the World Cup is set to be announced tomorrow. We do know that India will get at least three more games in this Asia Cup in the Super Fours - let's hope the weather stays good though and we don't see another dampener ahead.

India's captain Rohit Sharma is also the Player of the Match for his sublime innings to with that sharp catch in the slip. Here's what he has to say: (Happy with his innings?) Not really to start with. There were some nerves around initially but once I got my eye in I wanted to cash in and take my team home. (On his flick sweep for six) That was unexpected - I just wanted to chip it over short fine leg. There was no intention to hit it all the way over deep backward square leg. Luckily I timed it well and the bats these days are real good (grins). When we came here, at the back of our mind we knew what our 15 (for the World Cup) was going to look like. We knew that the Asia Cup was not going to give a complete picture of what our squad was going to look like since we got just two games. We managed to bat first in the last game and bowl first today. We didn't play our best cricket in both the games but I'm sure that we're getting there. A lot of guys are coming back after a long break, a few guys are coming back after months. Once we get into the Super Fours there's no room for complacency. First game, Hardik and Ishan batted brilliantly to get us to a good score. Today I thought we were okay with the ball, not great. Fielding was below par - that's something we cannot afford to do going into the World Cup and also the Asia Cup, which is a big tournament.

Rohit Paudel (Nepal captain): Our openers did a really good job for us. The middle-order could have done better. If we could have done better in the middle-overs we could have reached 260-270. In the last 4-5 months our lower order has been doing a great job. We're very proud of them. In these conditions it was really hard but our bowlers still bowled well. Because of dew it was very hard to grip the ball.

Shubman Gill: Disappointed with the way I got out (against Pakistan) so wanted to get it right tonight. He (Rohit) is the kind of player who likes to take the bowlers on. I like to hit boundaries so that combination works for us. They bowled very well with the new ball, bowled in good areas. We knew once the ball would get wet, it would get easier and that is what the talk was in the dressing room.

Match Summary: India beat Nepal by 10 wickets (DLS).

Rohit Sharma 74* (59) | Shubman Gill 67* (62)
Aasif Sheikh 58 (97) | Ravindra Jadeja 3/40 (10)

A chanceless chase. No two ways about it with the way Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill went about their work. That too after a long and frustrating wait that removed 27 overs off the innings after rain forced the players off the field after 2.1 overs and just when it started to head towards that point where a washout was not far away, the groundsmen emerged as the heroes again to ensure that we would witness some sort of a contest.

144 was much less to work with in comparison to 230 but Nepal's bowlers found it tough with a wet ball as they resumed post the rain break. Prior to that Karan KC had Rohit Sharma dancing to his tunes even as Shubman Gill cracked some pristine boundaries off Sompal Kami. Nepal didn't hesitate to turn to spin but there was no purchase on offer but for the odd instance of slow turn from Lalit Rajbanshi and Sandeep Lamichhane when they gave it a lot of air.

Rohit and Gill were two batters possessed though. They pounced on plenty of loose deliveries with Lamichhane in particular coming for some real tap. It was always a foregone conclusion once both openers imposed themselves on the contest and found the boundaries at will while also rotating the strike, getting to their respective half-centuries and shutting the door on Nepal for good. It was a smooth finish in the end and they just coasted to victory without having to bring any of their middle-order batters into picture.

Nepal tried their best but the might of the Indian unit was a hard challenge to stave off on the day. More so on an outfield that was damp, rendering any chances of swing moot the moment the ball started whistling along the grass banks. They will leave the tournament with plenty of learnings though and can be very proud of the impression that they've made in the tournament. Stick around for the presentation...

And that is that! A tickle down the leg-side and it brings an emphatic run chase to a close. As clinical as they come and India march into the Super Fours of the Asia Cup 2023!

20.1 Gulshan Jha to Shubman Gill, THAT WILL BE THAT! INDIA ARE INTO THE SUPER FOUR! Full and speared down the leg side. Gill uses the pace and tickles it fine past the keeper to seal the deal and lead India to a rather commanding victory in the end!

As Dominic Cork mentions on air, we have a game now even if the heavens open up. We've seen it rain fours and sixes though and it would be a fitting end if either of these two batters can finish it off in that manner. India require 2 runs to win off 18 deliveries at 0.67 RPO.

overs

143 /0 score

runs

Rohit Sharma *

74 (59)

Shubman Gill

63 (61)

Kushal Malla

0 /6

19.6 Kushal Malla to Rohit Sharma, wide yorker outside off. Rohit opens his bat face and squeezes it out to short third man. India still need two for the win

19.5 Kushal Malla to Rohit Sharma, full on off stump. Rohit blocks it into the off side

Ah! Rohit was about to step out before the bowler duly stopped in his trajectory. Vikram Rathour, India's batting coach, wears a grin in the dressing room.

19.4 Kushal Malla to Shubman Gill, slowed up and bowled full on off stump. Gill lunges forward and pushes it down to long on

19.3 Kushal Malla to Shubman Gill, low full toss outside off. Gill offers some more fielding practice to the man at extra cover

19.2 Kushal Malla to Rohit Sharma, very full outside off. Rohit digs it out towards long on

19.1 Kushal Malla to Shubman Gill, floated up outside off. Gill laces his cover drive and induces a misfield at extra cover, eventually getting a single for his troubles

That's more like it! Things have just started to peter out in the last couple of overs but Rohit has unshackled himself with a beautiful square cut. Powerplay 3 comes into force now with a fifth fielder allowed outside the inner circle. What are the odds of Gill finishing it off with a big one though?

overs

140 /0 score

runs

Rohit Sharma *

73 (56)

Shubman Gill

61 (58)

Gulshan Kumar Jha

0 /7

18.6 Gulshan Kumar Jha to Rohit Sharma, SHOT! Short enough and wide enough outside off. Rohit throws his hands at it and absolutely crunches it past backward point for four!

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