Kohli and Rahul fire as India beat Pakistan in Asia Cup

Sep 11 (Reuters) – India beat rivals Pakistan by 228 runs after Virat Kohli crossed 13,000 in one-day internationals en route to his 47th century and KL Rahul marked his return from injury with a ton in a lopsided clash of the Asia Cup Super Four in Colombo. on Monday.

Pakistan’s batsmen, needing a crushing 357 for victory after Kohli scored 122 not out off 94 balls and Rahul remained unbeaten on 111 off 106, never got going and finished on 128 with Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf absent through injury. .

India’s Kuldeep Yadav (5-25) swept Pakistan’s lineup after a brief rain break after Jasprit Bumrah removed Imam-ul-Haq and Hardik Pandya castled the dangerous Babar Azam.

India had reached 147-2 in 24.1 overs after half-centuries from captain Rohit Sharma (56) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (58) on Sunday, but rain meant the match would end on the reserve day and the Races continued to flow after a delay. begin.

“It was a fantastic batting performance, from yesterday,” Rohit said. “When we started, we knew the wicket was good.

“With breaks you have to adapt, but with two experienced batsmen in the middle we knew they would get their eye and then a tremendous effort from both of them.”

Kohli and Rahul saw the threat of Pakistan’s pace attack, missing Rauf due to a problem on the right flank, and the duo targeted the spinners to score 356-2 in 50 overs.

Rahul and Kohli’s unbeaten 233-run partnership for the third wicket was the highest stand in the Asia Cup.

“Both KL and I are conventional players,” Kohli said. “When you have him batting like he was and me playing, it’s difficult to break these associations because we don’t play fancy shots.

“We didn’t think too much about the partnership, the idea was to keep batting. It is one of the memorable partnerships we have had and that too for Indian cricket. He got fit immediately which is good for us.”

Rahul, who returned to the side after surgery for a quadriceps injury in May, flexed his muscles against spinners Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan and came down from the wicket to hit the latter for a huge six after completing his half-century.

India picked up the pace amid the threat of more rain and reached the 300-run mark in 45 overs before Rahul, who came into the team due to Shreyas Iyer’s back problem, reached his six hundred and raised his bat like a sword.

Kohli then became the fifth and fastest batsman to make 13,000 runs in the format and soon after celebrated his own century, pumping his fists before raising his hands to loud roars at the R Premadasa Stadium.

He finished with a flourish, carrying Faheem Ashraf for two fours, including one off a free hit, and a big shot over the ropes at the end of the last over.

India, whose group meeting with Pakistan in Pallekele this month was canceled due to rain, will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

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