India Pose Stiff Challenge To Pakistan In Asia Cup; Rahul’s Ton, Vintage Virat Power India To 356/2

Colombo [Sri Lanka]: Virat Kohli’s vintage performance and KL Rahul’s unbridled century powered India to 356/2 against arch-rivals Pakistan in their Asia Cup Super Four clash at R.Premadasa Stadium on Monday.

Captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s half-centuries laid the foundation for India, while the unbeaten 233-run partnership between Kohli and Rahul added the icing on the cake as the former skipper finished the game in style with a maximum.

Kohli finished his innings with an unbeaten 122, which came from 94 deliveries, while Rahul smashed a fiery 111 of 106 balls.

India resumed the play at 147-2 on the reserved day as rain interrupted the match on Sunday.  KL Rahul (17*) and Virat Kohli (8*) were at the crease yesterday when the play had to be stopped due to rain.

Shadab Khan bowled the first over of the game today and gave away just four runs. Rahul and Kohli then shifted gears and kept taking singles while looking for boundaries. The duo gave a steady start to Team India on the reserve day.

Pakistan bowlers tried to restrict scoring but Indian players kept scoring at a steady pace.
Rahul brought up his half-century in his comeback game after returning from injury and the duo brought up a 100-run partnership. Rahul kept up the momentum and smashed a six and four as Shadab Khan conceded 14 runs.

Kohli also kept the score board ticking and scored his 66th ODI fifty. The talisman brought up his half-century in 55 balls. Pakistan bowlers had no answer to the Indian duo’s range of shots. In the 40 overs, the Indian dup took their team’s total to 250/2.

The ‘Men in Green’ missed out on a brilliant opportunity to get a breakthrough as Faheem Ashraf failed to run out KL Rahul. Kohli and Rahul Rahul ran for a double and while coming to the non-striker’s end, the wicketkeeper-batter was a mile away before the ball reached Ashraf. However, Ashraf failed to grab it properly as he dropped the ball and removed the wickets with his hands.

Haris Rauf’s absence hurt Pakistan as Rahul-Kohli took Iftikhar Ahmed for 46 in his 5 overs.

In the 47th over, Rahul took a double off Naseem Shah’s delivery and brought up his ton in as many balls. The crunch games bring out the best in Kohli and he slammed a brilliant century in just 84 balls, his 77th century in international cricket.
With a stylish four of four off Shaheen Afridi’s delivery, Rahul brought up the 200-run partnership.

The duo kept adding runs and took India’s total to 356-2 in 50 overs as Kohli finished the innings with a stylish six off Faheem Ashraf’s delivery.

On Sunday, India got a flying start with the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scoring 121 runs.

Shaheen Shaf Afridi and Shadab Khan claimed a wicket apiece to bring Pakistan back into the game after the India openers sent them on a leather hunt in the initial overs.
Rohit (56) fell to a soft dismissal off Shadab while Gill (58) perished in the next over, failing to read a slower one from Shaheen and lobbing a catch to Agha Salman at extra cover.

Brief score: India 356/2 (Virat Kohli 122*, KL Rahul 111; Shaheen Afridi 1-79) vs Pakistan.