Watch: Kuldeep Yadav claimed five wickets as India beat Pakistan by 228 runs in a Super Four match at the 2023 Asia Cup.
Buoyed by a 233-run unbeaten third-wicket stand between Virat Kohli (122 not out with 94 balls, 9 fours and three sixes) and KL Rahul (111 not out with 106 balls, 12 fours and 2 sixes), India were 356-2 after scorer Babar Azam opted for the R Premadasa Stadium.
Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma (56 off 49 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes) and Shubman Gill (58 off 52 balls, 10 fours) scored 121 off 100 balls .
Pakistan suffered injuries to Haris Rauf, who was restricted to five overs, and Naseem Shah, who went off the ground while bowling in the last over.
On the other hand, Pakistan played in the rain with Indian fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (1-18), Mohammed Siraj (0-23), Hardik Pandya (1-17) and Shardul Thakur. They played against each other and won 77-3 (1-18) 16) – all of which made life difficult for the hitters.
The time is ripe for Kuldeep to intervene. Fakhar Zaman took a shot expecting the ball to spin, but the ball went straight to him. Aga Salman came next and tried to brush away the ball that came flying at him. He missed his line, the ball hit his pad and that was it.
Shadab Khan lifted too much. When Iftikhar Ahmed hit back, Kuldeep himself caught the catch with his sharp reflexes. And Faheem Ashraf didn’t read Google, missed his line and was bowled.
Neither Naseem nor Rauf struggled and Pakistan’s innings ended at 128 in 32 overs. India won by 228 runs, the fourth-largest margin, while scoring the maximum number of runs against Pakistan.
Kuldeep finished with 5-25, his second five-wicket ODI, having taken 6-25 against England at Trent Bridge in 2018. These were also India’s third-best numbers against Pakistan after Sourav Ganguly (5-16 at Toronto in 1997) and Arshad Ayub (5-21 at Dhaka in the 1988 Asian Cup). Ayub and Kuldeep are the only Indians to have won his five times against one team in the Men’s Asia Cup.
Watch Kuldeep Yadav take five wickets v Pakistan at the 2023 Asia Cup:
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