India vs Nepal, Asia Cup 2023: Rohit, Gill lead the way as Men in Blue enter Super Fours with 10-wicket win

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill bounced back from their disappointing performances against Pakistan, smashing half-centuries to help India thrash Nepal by 10 wickets in Kandy on Monday and collect their first win of the Asia Cup.

Rohit (74 not out) and Gill (67 not out) also stitched an unbroken 147-run opening stand in what was a complete domination of the Nepalese bowling attack, powering the Men in Blue to their first victory of the tournament after the match against Pakistan on Saturday ended in a washout.

Rohit and Gill had been dismissed for scores of 15 and 10 respectively while facing a red-hot Pakistani attack in their first match, which also took place in Kandy, with the Indians getting reduced to 66/4 at one stage before a solid fifth-wicket partnership between Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya helped them post a competitive 266 on board.

Rohit was off to a nervy start after Nepal posted a respectable 230 on the board thanks to valuable contributions from Aasif Sheikh (58) and Sompal Kami (48) as well as a slew of dropped catches by the Indians.

Seamer Karan KC managed to beat both edges of his blade in the testing first over and even convinced Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel to opt for a review after an unsuccessful LBW appeal against the ‘Hitman’. Even if they didn’t succeed in overturning the decision, Karan had managed to build pressure on the Indian openers.

The players were soon forced to head back to the dressing with the drizzle transforming into an absolute downpour — the heaviest witnessed in the Asia Cup so far — with India 17 for no loss after facing a little over two overs. The prospect of a second consecutive washout for India appeared quite likely with play being held up for more than an hour, although India would have progressed to the Super Four stage regardless.

Rain did eventually relent and the covers did start coming off at around 9.30 pm local time, with play restarting 45 minutes later after the umpires reduced the chase to 23 overs and revised India’s target to 145.

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