Asia Cup 2023: Kohli and Rahul hit 100s as India score 356 runs

Indian batters take on the Pakistani bowlers and reach a massive total of 356 runs. The innings which started yesterday came to a close today after rain abandoned the match yesterday after 24.1 overs. The openers shared a century stand yesterday and then the middle-order batting took on the Pakistani bowlers today. Here is a recap of the first innings.

Rohit and Shubman score 50s

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Indian openers who were troubled when these two sides previously met a week before, took the attack on the same bowlers yesterday.  The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma started timidly while his opening partner Shubman Gill took on the aggressor role. Shubman scored at a high pace, particularly against Shaheen Afridi. Shaheen conceded 31 runs in his opening spell of three overs in the powerplay. Sharing the new ball with Shaheen, Naseem Shah bowled beautifully but was unlucky to not pick any wickets. The Indian batters scored 61 runs in the powerplay. They went on to make a century stand. 

Rohit smashes Shadab, Pakistan followed by two quick wickets

Soon after the powerplay ended, Shadab Khan came into the attack. Rohit pounced on Shadab hitting two sixes and a four in his very first over. He continued the attack on the spin bowler with a six and a four in the following over. He was later dismissed by Shadab after reaching a score of 56 runs in 49 balls. Shubman was dismissed in the very next over to Shaheen. The two quick wickets meant that Virat Kohli and KL Rahul began their partnership. Both Virat and Rahul started at a slow pace after a fiery start provided by the openers.

Rain interrupts the game

The rain interrupted the match after 24.1 overs. The heavy rain meant that there were puddles on the ground which the groundsmen even after trying very hard were unable to remove. The play was suspended for the day and went to the reserve day.

Kohli and Rahul take toll on Pakistani bowlers

Kohli and Rahul had to restart their innings today. For Pakistan, Haris Rauf picked up a side strain yesterday which made him unavailable for bowling today. This meant that Iftikhar Ahmed had to bowl five of Rauf’s overs. Virat and Rahul made a great 233-run stand. The highlight of their partnership wasn’t just the numerous boundaries the duo hit but also the speedy running between the wickets. 

Fastest to 13000 ODI runs.

Take a bow, @imVkohli 🙌🙌#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/UOT6HsJRB2

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 11, 2023

Rahul completed his century in 100 balls while the former skipper completed his century in just 84 balls. Virat completed 13,000 runs and became the fastest cricketer to reach the milestone.