Asia Cup 2023: India vs Nepal, 5th ODI – Who Said What?

Shubman-Gill-and-Rohit-Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter/BCCI)

India registered a comfortable 10-wicket win over Nepal to seal their berth for the Super Four of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Bowling first, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj picked up three wickets each, as Nepal were restricted to 230 runs. Aasif Sheikh and Sompal Kami looked really steady with the bat and that will give them a lot of confidence going forward.

When it came to the run chase, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were phenomenal as both openers hit half-centuries each to get the job done in Pallekele. Rohit hit 74* and Gill hit 67* as India picked up an easy win.

Talking Points from the 5th match between India and Nepal:

Indian openers on song

In the last match against Pakistan, both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill failed to make a significant mark and faced the heat for the same. However, against Nepal, both the cricketers put up a spectacular show as India managed to win the match by ten wickets.

Jadeja’s three-wicket haul

Spin wizard Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets to dismantle the middle order of Nepal. Ahead of the Super Four and most importantly, the ODI World Cup, the form will definitely boost his confidence.

Lots of positives for Nepal

Being number 15 in ODI cricket, Nepal don’t really get enough opportunities to play against the big boys. Thus, the matches against Pakistan and India will give them a lot of confidence. Against India, Aasif Sheikh and Sompal Kami played some sensational cricket and hence, there are multiple positives for the team.

Losing skipper Rohit Paudel said:

The openers did a good job for us, the middle order could have done better, we were 30 runs short and if the middle order had done well then we could have reached 260-270. Our lower order has been doing a great job and contributing in the last 4-5 months. The conditions were really hard but our bowlers bowled well as the ball was not gripping.

Winning skipper and POTM Rohit Sharma said:

Not really, some nerves to start with but once I got my eye in wanted to get the team home. That was not intentional, I wanted to chip it over square leg but the bats these days are so good. When we came here we knew what our WC 15 is going to be like, the Asia Cup was not going to give us a picture because it was only two games. But luckily we got to bat in the first game and bowl in this game, that made it a complete game for us. Stil have a lot to work on. Lot of guys coming back from injuries and they need time to get back into the groove. Hardik and Ishan was very good in the last game to get us to that score. The bowling was okay but the fielding was bad, we need to improve on that.