Nepal showed courageous batting in the Asia Cup cricket match against India. In a recent match against Pakistan, the Nepali player struggled and put up a weak performance, but the initial duo of Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh had an excellent start, earning respect and praise. In the match held at the Rangshala Cricket Ground in Sri Lanka, Nepal lost the toss and batted first, managing to score 230 runs in 48.2 overs before being bowled out.
The Indian players made a great start as well, with three catches dropped by Nepal’s fielders. In the first over, Mohammad Sami had an opportunity to dismiss Kushal but was unable to hold on to the catch. Later, Shreyas Iyer, who was positioned at slip, also dropped a catch. In the second over, Mohammad Siraj managed to take Aasif’s wicket, providing another opportunity for Nepal, but Aasif was dropped again. Aasif played some excellent shots and reached his half-century, scoring 58 runs.
Kushal and Aasif had a partnership of 65 runs for the first wicket. Kushal was eventually dismissed as the first wicket. However, after their partnership was broken, Nepal lost wickets at regular intervals. Aasif played a resilient innings, scoring 97 runs off 97 balls, including eight boundaries. In the later part of the innings, Sompal Kami made a valuable contribution with a half-century, hitting two sixes and a boundary in his 48-run innings.
Nepal’s opening batsmen, Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh, put up a partnership of 38 runs before Kushal scored 38 runs off 25 balls, hitting two sixes and three boundaries. After adding 6 more runs, Kushal achieved his milestone of 1,000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs). However, after that, Nepal continued to lose wickets regularly. Rohit Paudel and Aasif Sheikh also reached their 1,000 runs milestone in ODIs, becoming the third and fourth Nepali players to achieve this feat. Deepender Singh Airee scored 29, Gulshan Jha contributed 23, and Sandeep Lamichhane added 9 runs. Bhim Sarki scored 7 runs, while captain Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla could only add 5 and 2 runs, respectively. India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj took three wickets each, while Mohammed Sami, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur took one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 231 runs, India defeated Nepal by 10 wickets. Due to heavy rain after 2.1 overs with 17 runs on the board, the game was interrupted for nearly two hours. After the rain delay, play resumed. Based on the Duckworth-Lewis method, India had a revised target of 145 runs in 23 overs. India successfully achieved the target in 20.1 overs. Despite Nepal’s brave batting, they couldn’t make an impact with the ball. India’s captain Rohit Sharma scored 74 runs, hitting five sixes and six boundaries in his 59-ball innings. Similarly, Shubman Gill contributed 67 runs.
With this result, India has secured a place in the “Super Four” of the Asia Cup. Pakistan, having gained three points from two matches, has also advanced to the Super Four as the runners-up. Nepal, on the other hand, returned home after two consecutive defeats in the group stage. In their debut match of the Asia Cup, Nepal had defeated Pakistan by 238 runs.
The Asia Cup features six teams divided into two groups. Group A includes India, Pakistan, and Nepal, while Group B consists of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Four, where the top two teams will compete in the final. Nepal had previously qualified for the Asia Cup in 2002 but couldn’t participate due to internal disputes between India and Pakistan, resulting in the cancellation of the tournament. This time, Nepal made it to the Asia Cup through the ACC Premier Cup, where they defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the final at Tribhuvan University Ground in Kirtipur. Nepal had won the ACC Premier Cup held on home soil in May, earning their ticket to the Asia Cup.
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