CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – India produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Nepal to 230 runs in their 2023 Asia Cup Limited Overs Cricket Tournament match played at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy on Monday.
After a scrappy first few overs, India finally got their act together well midway in the game and picked up wickets at regular intervals to keep the opposition for under 250 runs after they had won the toss and elected to field.
In fact, India’s fielding looked pretty ordinary early in the game as they dropped three vital catches inside the first five overs but their bowlers made amends by striking some crucial blows whenever the opposition tried to dominate proceedings.
The Nepal openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh took advantage of the fielding lapses as they posted a 65-run stand from 9.5 overs with the latter completing a splendid half century with eight boundaries.
There was a middle order collapse for Nepal as Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja struck a couple of crucial blows before they recovered back through the seventh-wicket pair of Dipendra Singh and Sompal Kami.
But Nepal’s hopes of putting up a total of over 250 runs was dashed when they lost the last three wickets inside six deliveries for the addition of just two runs.
This is a historic occasion for Nepal as they are playing against their Asian rivals for the first time in international cricket and It is certainly a big moment for the Associate Nation.
Chief scores:
Nepal: 230 in 48.2 overs (Kushal Bhurtel 38, Aasif Sheikh 58, Gulsan Jha 23, Dipendra Singh 29, Sompal Kami 48, Mohammed Siraj 3/61, Ravindra Jadeja 3/40) v India.
