It was a disappointing affair at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy as incessant rain relented, to deny a result in the highly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan on Saturday, September 2. The match was setting up to be a thriller with 267 probably going to be a tricky chase given the overcast conditions, however, it wasn’t to be as the heavens opened up for the fourth time in the game after the 9 PM local time inspection and this time rather decisively.
The viewers and the local crowd didn’t get to watch the full game, however, they did see some exciting cricket in the first innings with the Indian batters and Pakistani bowlers both having their moment. Earlier, the Pakistani pacers dominated the first part of the Indian innings reducing the Men in Blue to 66/4. None of the top-order batters had answers to Shaheen Afridi’s swing and Haris Rauf played his part well with the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill later on.
Ishan Kishan playing at No. 5 for the first time and Hardik Pandya, who likes batting against Pakistan performed the rescue job for their side to the T. Both balanced caution with aggression as they didn’t let any loose balls go and played the ball to merit without curbing their natural instincts.
The partnership had just completed a century during the 33rd over when an unusual sighting happened during the game. A song from the Bollywood film ‘Adipurush’, ‘Ram Siya Ram’ was played by the DJ in Kandy and the Indian fans couldn’t believe that it actually happened.
Watch the viral video here:
Pakistan have confirmed their spot in the Super Fours and hence will be travelling back to Lahore for their final game, which will be in the next round on September 6. For India, they have to beat Nepal to confirm their spot, who are coming off a loss against Pakistan in the tournament opener.
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