India-Pakistan blockbuster ends in no result as rain plays spoilsport

Rain forced a no-result in the blockbuster Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan after just one innings of play on Saturday.

Pakistan bowled out India for 266 in 48.5 overs with pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi returning figures of 4-35, but no further play was possible due to persistent rain in Pallekele.

Babar Azam's Pakistan have made the Super Four stage of the tournament as they won their opening match of the 50-over tournament, a key event in the build-up to the World Cup in India later this year.

The points on Saturday were shared.

Earlier, Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi took four wickets to lead an inspired pace attack and bowl out India for 266 in Saturday's blockbuster Asia Cup clash.

India slipped to 66-4 before Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) hit back in a stand of 138 to hand their team a fighting total in their opening match of the 50-over tournament, a prelude to next month's ODI World Cup in India.

Left-arm quick Shaheen rattled the opposition top order, taking the key wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India elected to bat first in the group match, which saw two rain breaks after a day of gloomy weather.

Shaheen made 4-35 and got able support from fellow quicks Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, both of whom picked up three wickets each.

The left-handed Kishan counter-attacked with boundaries to take the fight back to the opposition bowlers with Pandya.

Shaheen was given a two-over burst to break the stand but the batsmen stood firm and Kishan reached his fifty to loud cheers from the crowd and frustration from Pakistan, whose on-ground fielding remained sloppy.

Earlier Rohit swung Shaheen for a couple of fours, but the pace spearhead had his revenge on the first ball following a 33-minute stoppage to bowl the Indian captain for 11.

He then silenced the largely Indian crowd with the wicket of Kohli (4), who inside-edged an incoming delivery onto his stumps.

Rauf bowled the returning Shreyas Iyer as India slipped to 48-3 and soon lost opener Shubman Gill for 10 after a second rain interval.

He also finally sent Kishan back with the batsman caught out after his 81-ball knock, including nine fours and two sixes.

Pandya kept up the charge and hit Rauf for three boundaries in an over, but fell to Shaheen.

Number 10 Jasprit Bumrah made 16 before falling to Naseem as the Indian innings ended in 48.5 overs.

Ground staff covered the field as players left for the innings break after the return of a drizzle.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)

TV Umpire: Paul Wilson (AUS)

Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

Agence France-Presse