In a highly anticipated Asia Cup 2023 encounter between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, rain played spoilsport, leading to the abandonment of the match. As a result, both teams were awarded one point each.
The clash took place at Pali Kele Stadium in Sri Lanka, where Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.
India’s batting innings got off to a shaky start against the formidable Pakistani bowling attack. Rohit Sharma fell victim to Shaheen Afridi’s delivery, managing just eleven runs off 22 balls. Shortly after, Shaheen struck again, dismissing Virat Kohli for four runs.
Haris Rauf added to India’s woes by removing Shreyas Iyer for a mere 14 runs. At that point, India had reached a total of 51 runs for the loss of three wickets when rain intervened, forcing a temporary halt in the match.
After the rain delay, Shubman Gill fell to Haris Rauf’s bowling. However, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan displayed exceptional batting prowess, taking on the Pakistani bowlers aggressively without any hint of pressure.
Ishan Kishan played a spectacular knock, scoring 82 runs before falling victim to Haris Rauf. Soon after, Hardik Pandya departed, contributing 87 runs to the Indian total. The Indian innings concluded at 266 runs for the loss of all wickets in 48.5 overs.
On the bowling front, Shaheen Shah Afridi led the Pakistani attack, dismissing four Indian players while conceding 35 runs. Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf claimed three wickets each, with figures of 3 wickets for 36 runs and 3 wickets for 58 runs, respectively.
Facing a target of 267 runs to win, the Pakistani team was eager to chase down the total before the rain intervened once more, leading to the match’s abandonment.
The Pakistani playing XI for this high-stakes encounter featured captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf.
Meanwhile, India’s lineup included captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardal Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav.
With the match ending in a washout due to the unpredictable Sri Lankan weather, both teams shared the points and looked forward to their next encounters in the Asia Cup 2023.
