Rain forced a No Result verdict in the India-Pakistan Group A encounter in the Asia Cup in Kandy on Saturday. Not a ball of the second innings was bowled after India scored 266, having won the toss.
The two teams will each get a point. Pakistan, who beat Nepal in their first game, have three points. India take on Nepal on September 4,
An attritional partnership of 138 for the fifth wicket between Ishan Kishan (82 off 81 balls) and Hardik Pandya (87 from 90) helped India post a competitive 266.
It was a difficult start for India as the Pakistani pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi (10-2-35-4), Naseem Shah (8.5-0-36-3) and Haris Rauf (9-0-58-3) had India wobbling at 66 for four in 14.1 overs.
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma was the first to go, after having hit a couple of confident boundaries off Afridi to the on side, which indicated he was well-prepared to face the ball moving in. But after the first rain interruption, Afridi bowled a better length and softened Sharma up with a couple of deliveries that moved away from him. Then he got one to move in a bit and Sharma was bowled for 11.
Virat Kohli signaled his intention to take on the attack by planting his left foot forward and hitting Shah for four through the covers. But in the next over by Afridi, he too was gone, a bit unlucky as an inside edge crashed into the stumps when he was on four.
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Rauf then accounted for Shreyas Iyer (14) and Shubman Gill (10) and India’s best four were back in the hut. But then Kishan and Pandya steadied the ship.
Negotiating the Pakistan spinners Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Agha, and then the fast bowlers and the wet conditions, Kishan and Pandya reined in their attacking selves and gradually built their partnership.
