India could not get off the mark in the Asia Cup as their match against Pakistan was called off due to rain. On the other hand, it was great news for the Men in Green as they qualified for the Super Four stage. In their first game, they put up a dominating show against Nepal where they beat them by a whopping margin of 238 runs. Both teams got one point each after the washout.
The weather in Sri Lanka continues to be iffy as reports say that the India-Nepal Asia Cup encounter is said to be interrupted due to rain. If another washout takes place then Nepal would be eliminated and the Men in Blue would go through. India would have two points from two games and Nepal would have just one.
Nepal lost their opening game to Pakistan by 238 runs
In their first Asia Cup game, Nepal were handed a harsh reality check when their batters had to go up against the likes of Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Nepal started off on a bright note when they reduced the Men in Green to 124-4. But, big tons from Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed meant that Pakistan made their way to 342-6 in their 50 overs.
In response, the Nepal batters were no match for the well-rounded Pakistan attack as they were bowled out for 104 in just 23.4 overs. Babar scored a stroke-filled 151 off 131 balls with 14 fours and four sixes. Iftikhar helped himself to his maiden ton. All said and done it was a tough initiation for Nepal into Asia Cup cricket.
For India, Hardik Pandya played a superb innings under pressure as he smashed 87 off 90 balls with seven fours and one six. Ishan Kishan showed what he could do in the middle order for the national side as he made a stunning 82 off 81 balls with nine fours and two sixes. Bangladesh and Afghanistan will lock horns against each other at Lahore on September 3.
Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter:
This is great, thank you SL.
— Atit Shah (@AtitSha05314707) September 3, 2023
Ind-Pak - washed out
Ind-Nep - washed out
Super 4 - washed out
Final - washed out
Pakistan was better place, atleast match would have happened, if not Pakistan, India should hv choosed Dubai , srilanka no way, dain spoil the matches every time
— Akash Singh (@AkashSingh178) September 3, 2023
Rain is going to save India from Nepal tomorrow pic.twitter.com/bhiwk4lpiL
— 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗭𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗱¹⁰ | 🇦🇪 (@Iam_hassan10) September 3, 2023
Sri Lanka or Rain Lanka
— ROMEO👑 (@iromeostark) September 3, 2023
Come on, agar har match me barish hogi to jaruri tha kya Asia cup karwana😡😡
— Hanif Khan- हनीफ खान (@Khan28Hanif) September 3, 2023
India coming home 😂😂😂😂
— Numan Ramzan (@NumanRamzan785) September 3, 2023
Asli khel to barish khel rahi hai
— R S 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@rs_rajender) September 3, 2023
Bhai kiska yaar has raha hain Jo bhagwan barish kare jaa rhe hain 😭
— Indian Elon (@elonifiedmusk) September 3, 2023
Ye kya randapa hai isse accha cancel kar do Asia cup jab yhi karwana tha to, weather forecast nhi dikhi thi kya venue decide karne se phele
— 𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙪𝙡•🕉️ (@BloodyRahuL) September 3, 2023
— Abhishek Sharma (Token 2049 Singapore) (@abhi_blockchain) September 3, 2023