Rain forces India-Pakistan clash into reserve day

COLOMBO, Sept 10 (AFP): Rain on Sunday forced a blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan into a reserve day after just 24.1 overs of play in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup.
India will resume on 147-2 on Monday in the 50-over contest after rain abruptly ended their innings following Pakistan's decision to bowl first in Colombo.
An extra day was a last-minute addition to the Super Four clash -- the only game to get the advantage other than the final -- after a previous group meeting between the two teams was washed out due to rain in Pallekele.
Rain in Sri Lanka, who co-host the tournament alongside Pakistan, has put the organisers in a spin. The tournament is a precursor to the upcoming ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli, on eight, and KL Rahul, on 17, were batting when rain forced the players off and groundstaff worked tirelessly to try and restart the game after showers stopped.
After three inspections and fans helped to dry wet patches, the umpires looked like restarting play after over four hours of stoppage, but rain came to have the final say.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (56) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (58) gave India a blazing start in a stand of 121 off 100 balls to put Pakistan on the backfoot.
The batsmen took on the new-ball pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah with aerial shots in the powerplay when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle.
Both Shaheen and Naseem looked menacing in their first spell as the ball kept flying past the bat, and one edge from Gill went between two slips.
Rohit smashed leg-spinner Shadab Khan for two sixes and a four off successive balls in a 19-run over to raise the noise of the Indian fans at a largely empty stadium.