Asia Cup: Bumrah, Hardik take a wicket each as Pakistan reach 44/2 before rain stops play

Colombo: Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya took a wicket each as Pakistan reached 44/2 in 11 overs in the chase of 357 against India before rain stopped play in the Asia Cup Super Four match on the reserve day at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Monday.

India reached a mammoth 356/2, thanks to KL Rahul making a stunning comeback to international cricket with a classy 111 not out off 106 balls while Virat Kohli combined astute running between the wickets with dazzling strokeplay to hit his fourth ODI century in as many innings through an unbeaten 122 off just 94 balls.

In defence, Bumrah, bowling in an ODI for the first time since July 2022, extracted movement in every way under lights. He got the ball to seam and swing away from the left-handed batters Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman.

Bumrah had impeccable control on his length to keep the batters stranded at the crease and in check. He took out Imam by changing his angle to around the wicket and pitched the ball a little fuller to get the left-handed batter nick to second slip.

Captain Babar Azam took 11 balls to get off the mark, by punching Bumrah square through the wicket for four and followed it up by glancing Mohammed Siraj through the mid-wicket for another boundary.

His stay ended on 10 via Pandya, who got a big nip-backer on length to hit the top of the stumps through the gate before rain arrived to stop the proceedings. If rain forces a washout, then both teams will share points.

Brief scores:

India 356/2 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 122 not out, KL Rahul 111 not out; Shadab Khan 1-71, Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-79) against Pakistan 44/2 in 11 overs (Fakhar Zaman 14 not out; Hardik Pandya 1-1, Jasprit Bumrah 1-18)