Rohit, Gill star as India ease into the Super Four

In a rain-curtailed encounter, India overcame a spirited challenge from Nepal to qualify for the Super Fours in Asia Cup, 2023. Set a revised target of 145 n 23 overs, India's chase was wrapped up in style by openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who scored unbeaten half-centuries barely being ruffled.

Early in the innings, Gill made the most of the width offered by the pacers peppering the offside boundary off the back foot. Thereafter rain made an untimely interruption, washing out a large part of the innings and forcing resumption only five minutes before the cut-off time.

With the revised target requiring India to press on the accelerator, the mantle was taken up by Rohit who went after the legspinner Sandeep Lamichanne hitting him for a four and a six off consecutive balls twice. Gill too managed to loft the spinner for a six inbetween even as Rohit raced away to a half century off 39 balls. Gill was relatively slower, getting to the mark in 46 balls but made sure that the momentum never slipped at the other end and carried India over the line without any hiccups.

In contrast, India's first bowling effort in the Asia Cup had a mixture of good and bad in equal measure, and Nepal managed to make use of the largesse when on offer and ended up with a