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India thump Nepal in Asia Cup despite dropped catches

By AAP Newswire

Sep 5, 2023

Indian captain Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 74 off 59 balls as Nepal were beaten by ten wickets. -AP

India have shaken off some sloppy fielding and fired with the bat to comprehensively beat Nepal in a rain-shortened Asia Cup match in Pallekele to join arch-rivals Pakistan in the Super Four stage from Group A.

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Chasing a revised target of 145 in 23 overs i Sri Lanka on Monday, following a long rain interruption, India romped to a 10-wicket victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method with 17 balls left.

Skipper Rohit Sharma was not out on 74 (59 balls) after smashing six fours and five sixes, while fellow opener Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 67 off 62 balls.

India had earlier let Nepal off the hook after opting to bowl as Shreyas Iyer dropped Kushal Bhurtel in the opening over and Virat Kohli made a mess of another chance in the next to hand Aasif Sheikh a lifeline.

Bhurtel got another reprieve when wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan put down a simple catch off Mohammed Shami, but fell to Shardul Thakur for 38 while Sheikh scored 58 - his 10th half-century in one-day international cricket.

But Ravindra Jadeja (3-40) tore through the middle-order and Mohammed Siraj (3-61) also got in on the act before rain briefly halted play at 6-178. Nepal then rode on Sompal Kami's 48 lower down the order to finish with 230 in 48.2 overs.

More rain followed after India began their chase, prompting match officials to revise the target after a lengthy delay.