Live Report: India vs Pakistan, Super Four

Not only India's biggest score against Pakistan but also their biggest win against arch rivals. All set up by a wonderful counterattack by the openers when the new ball was hopping around yesterday, and then Virat Kohli and KL Rahul serving a timely reminder of how good they are in ODIs.

Jasprit Bumrah made a more than satisfactory return to ODIs before Kuldeep Yadav ran through the rest with a five-for. Just like the Indian bowlers, we need to recover in time for tomorrow's match: a third straight day that India will be playing. So that's all for the Live Report. Thanks for joining us.

Kuldeep Yadav has cleaned up with a five-for. He has bowled beautifully along the seam when looking for turn either way but it is the scrambled-seam quicker ones that have brought him wickets. All five since he started bowling. His second five-for in ODIs. Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf are not going to bat, which makes it a big matter for concern for Pakistan. Truly a two-day nightmare. India have won by 228 runs.

The batters are not picking Kuldeep Yadav out of the hand, and that can be a right nightmare. Iftikhar Ahmed is lucky to have survived till now but Shadab Khan has holed out to wide long-on. There is a big damage to net run rate in store for Pakistan, who are 110 for 6.

After looking the only batter relatively comfortable out in the middle, Salman Agha is out trying to sweep Kuldeep Yadav. Again the quicker, fuller delivery that squeezes under his bat and traps him right in front. Pakistan 96 for 5 in 24 overs.

Salman Agha makes that mistake, and top-edges Ravindra Jadeja into his face. He is bleeding under the right eye. The seam of the ball has left a big cut just under the right eye. The bleeding has stopped, a concussion test has been given, and he has got a helmet on now.

Twenty overs have been bowled. And in the 20th, Kuldeep Yadav has bowled out a slogging Fakhar Zaman with a quicker delivery that goes straight on and beats him on the inside. Pakistan 79 for 4, which is well behind whatever the DLS par score is. India well on top.

Moments after play resumes, Shardul Thakur has Mohammad Rizwan caught-behind with a beautiful delivery that seams away to hold its line. Among the pundits, Thakur is the only one who remains a less-than-100% pick because Thakur plays ahead of Mohammed Shami because of his batting at No. 8. But if he can bowl the way he is bowling, he is as good as any specialist.

No overs lost. We will resume at 9.20pm.

And the covers are coming off. It is unlikely we will lose a single over because of this interruption.

A drizzle at the end of the 11th over, and we are off the field. Still a lot of time left in the match for a result. Nine more overs for a game so we can start till as late as 11.20pm, I think.

Hardik Pandya follows up the excellent Jasprit Bumrah spell with an unplayable ball to Babar Azam. Wobble seam, on a length, big seam movement back, hits the top of the stumps. Too good at that pace. Pakistan 44 for 2 in 11 overs.

It has been an absolute nightmare for the Pakistan batters facing Jasprit Bumrah. At his pace he has been getting movement each way: seam from left to right and swing from right to left. Of the 30 balls, batters were not in control 17 times. Lesser bowlers sometimes get greedy and end up bowling half-volleys when this is happening. Not Bumrah. His control of length is impeccable. Even when he went full, he didn't bowl driving length.

The innings began with Ishan Kishan keeping wicket, but it turns out that's because KL Rahul was off the field. In the seventh over of the innings, Rahul takes the field and the big gloves. Pakistan 21 for 1 in six overs against the menacing Bumrah and Siraj.

This is classic seam bowling. A bowling inching his way to a wicket. The ball has been seaming away from left-hand batters for Jasprit Bumrah, but in the first two overs he only beat the bat. In his second over, he went around the wicket to try to hit the edge, and he still missed. In his third, he went fuller, got the movement against the angle, and took the edge from Imam-ul-Haq. Pakistan 17 for 1 in the fifth over.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have taken the new balls. Both the bowlers are testing the bat, especially Bumrah, bowling fast offcutters almost thanks to the seam movement available to him. Pakistan 15 for 0 in three overs.

Ishan Kishan is keeping wicket.

This innings has been all India but for a while towards the end you could say Pakistan had done well to, in all likelihood, keep India under 100 in the last 10 overs. Two balls to go, India were 341 for 2, and then Faheem Ashraf overstepped. And Kohli unleashed two lovely shots to take India to 356.

Kohli put on a masterclass. Managing to score ones and twos off good balls, and then slowly but surely accelerating. Rahul made an assured comeback, not allowing the spinners to bowl and then overcoming a slowdown in the middle. Both got centuries.

The target for Pakistan is more than what has ever been scored batting second in Sri Lanka.

As soon as he bowls the second ball of 49th over, Naseem Shah doesn't even wait for the ball to be retrieved and just walks off the field. If a bowler is that certain he needs to go off the field, it is not looking good. Iftikhar Ahmed has to complete the over. Here's hoping it is nothing serious with Naseem so close to the World Cup.

With a typical dab behind square, Virat Kohli has brought up an astonishing 47th ODI hundred. He is also the quickest to 13000 career runs. Also his fourth hundred in four innings in Colombo.

What a beautiful innings. Just 36 in boundaries for Kohli. He has made sure he has been scoring off good balls too. A quiet little century off just 84 balls.

KL Rahul holds aloft his bat and looks at the skies. Just a moment to reflect on the year this has been. That quad injury during the IPL. The nervous race against time for the World Cup. Then another niggle when coming back. Two matches later, he is back and he has shown why he is the best in the business. Hundred off 100. His sixth ODI hundred. Relief and joy both.

The last over of part-time spin to make up for Haris Rauf's absence, and Virat Kohli takes full toll. Almost seamlessly, he has gone well past the 100 strike rate, scoring 26 off 13 balls since reaching his fifty. He is 22 short of 13000 ODI runs and 24 short of a 47th ODI century.

A half-century off 55 balls without a shot in anger. Just another day's work for Virat Kohli. He came in when two quick wickets fell, had to restart the innings on day two too, and apart from the odd edge, it has been business as usual. India looking set for a really big total with 239 for 2 in 38.3 overs on the board.

KL Rahul is showing just why India have been desperate to get him back. He has been among the best middle-order batters in the world in ODI cricket for a while now. The reason is, he doesn't let spinners bowl. Unlike a couple of other batters, he can hit good balls from spinners for boundaries, which is what he has been doing with the sweep here. After Iftikhar Ahmed, he has punished Shadab Khan for a four and a six: a sweep and a loft over wide long-on. He is now 63 off 65 as India look to maximise the last 15 overs.

Amazing news for India that KL Rahul has come back looking as smooth as he has been in the ODI middle order for the last little while. He is doing more than just milk runs here. He is also looking to go in the air. Also rubbing onto Virat Kohli, who has now begun to play more forceful shots. India 211 for 2 in 34 overs, Rahul 51 off 61, Kohli 38 off 42.

India are not in a mood for accumulation. The moment KL Rahul sees the part-time offspin of Iftikhar Ahmed, he has brought out intent. That touch of old is back: a sweep for a six, followed by a cut as he waits for the shorter delivery. India 186 for 2 in 31 overs with Rahul on 42 off 55.

Almost 24 hours after we first went off with rain, play has resumed. India resume at 147 for 1 in 24.1 overs. Shadab Khan completes his over. As Naseem Shah begins the 26th over with a dot, India's run rate falls under 6 for the first time since Rohit Sharma hit the last ball of the first over for a six.

Haris Rauf will not bowl in the rest of the match.

Here is the full story.

Pakistan's bowling coach says Rauf has pulled his oblique muscle. i think he pointed to the right one.

We are going to have cricket finally. Play set to resume at 4.40pm. 50 overs a side. Lessgoooop

Conditions looking better than yesterday after the rain. They will inspect the ground at 4.20pm. I suspect we could get going as soon as 4.30pm as both the teams have started their warm-ups.

Now the ground staff have started to take the covers off. Not even close to losing overs yet.

https://twitter.com/IsbUnited/status/1701166303560503662

Good news. There is some activity on the covers as the rain has stopped falling. Another tough day of work in store for the ground staff.

The update from the ground is that the rain has slowed down to a drizzle, and it has got birghter in Colombo. So fingers crossed

Welcome to day two of this Super Four match between India and Pakistan. First the good news. The morning was cloudy giving way to clear skies. The ground had been dried and looked ready. The teams made it to the stadium. And then... and then it started raining about 15 minutes before 2pm. The schedule resumption is at 3pm so we still have time to probably make it a timely resumption.

We started off on a sunny afternoon, and India counterattacked on a seaming pitch. Both Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma scored quick fifties before they fell in quick succession. And then the rain arrived. Then we waited for two wet patches. When we finally thought we were close to getting the ground ready, the rain arrived again.

Now we come back tomorrow for a 50-over game. Imagine India complete the match tomorrow, and Sri Lanka bat first day after tomorrow, the bowlers will be bowling 100 overs in 24 hours.

Thanks for joining us. See you tomorrow

This new shower has put paid to any plans for play tonight. We come back tomorrow to resume a 50-over game from where we left off.

The rain is heavy so it is time now to start talking off the cutoff time. For the match to be completed today, we need to start by 10.36pm for a 20-over game. I think it is safe to say now that India won't be batting again if this match resumes tonight.

Unfortunately the drizzle is back. This has to be frustrating for everybody, most of all for the ground staff.

So now we have heard from the umpires. They are worried about two areas: point and square leg. They are high traffic areas where fielders have to move laterally. So they are hopeful they see good results from the fans contraption at 8.30. They are clear that as of now it is quite soft and dangerous. Everyone is trying their best to get the match in tonight.

Scenes. Heads of pedestal fans are being used to dry a wet patch that the ground staff have worked hard on. The next inspection will be at 8.30pm. Assuming we resume at 9pm, we might get a 30-32-over match in.

Long deliberations, long chat with the ground staff, then chats with two camps, and the umpires have decided to come out for an inspection at 8pm. I think everyone wants to get done with it tonight but the wet patches are a cause for serious concern. Let's see what happens then.

As things stand, the long-on area from one of the ends remains a cause for concern. They are working hard to get it ready. The inspection is in 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, here is a thought: if, for some reason, this goes into the reserve day, India will be playing on three successive days as their next match is scheduled to be against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

The super sopper is out, the ground staff are hard at work, but there are a couple of patches that remain a matter of concern. So we shall have a ground inspection at 7.30pm.

The ground staff is hard at work and slowly getting the ground ready, but at 6.22pm, we have started losing overs.

The rain has stopped, it would appear. They have started to work on the covers. It is actually a faint drizzle but they have started working on the covers so that they don't lose too much time once it stops raining.

Rain has eased out, but there has been an annoying drizzle on for the last 25 minutes or so. It is the kind of drizzle that you would probably play through if you were on the field already. However, the covers stay on the field. We have lost an hour's play so far. We start losing overs in another half hour.

A storm has made its way to the Premadasa Stadium. The covers have immediately come on. India 147 for 2 in 24.1 overs.

Just to refresh, we start losing after 90 minutes of play is lost as opposed to the 60 minutes in the first round. We will start thinking of the reserve days when it comes to that. Right now there is a lot of time left before we even start to lose overs.

Just like that Pakistan have struck right back. Both the openers are gone. Shaheen Shah Afridi, in his first over back, does Shubman Gill in with a slower offcutter, which he ends up chipping straight to short extra cover. The game turns. India 123 for 2 in 17.5 overs.

Time now for KL Rahul to begin his comeback.

India continue with their intent of doing more than just milk the singles. And that involves risk. Shadab Khan is good enough to get enough drop on a legbreak for Rohit Sharma to have to reach out for the attempted lofted shot. He ends up finding long-off, and is gone for 56 off 49. India 121 for 1 in 16.4 overs.

6, 6, 4, 6, 4 - Rohit Sharma's last five balls. Shadab Khan is under pressure and is dropping short. And Rohit has gone past 50 too off just 42 balls.

After that brief lull, Rohit Sharma has joined Shubman Gill in the carnage. The first sight of spin has been put away. Too short from Shadab Khan, and Rohit has hit him for two sixes and a four. He is 44 off 41 now. India 96 for 0 in 13 overs.

He looked in trouble in the first match against Pakistan, but Shubman Gill has made a superb comeback with a fifty off just 37 balls. He has counterattacked Pakistan on a seaming pitch. As it happens, you expect a chance here or there - one flew between two slips and one wide of them - but he has looked in supreme touch.

Ten overs into this marquee match, the stands at Khettarama Stadium are about 20% full, if we’re being generous. This is a 35,000-capacity venue.

The main reason for this is likely the initial cost of ticket prices. In the weeks before the tournament, and even into its first days of play, many tickets that would usually cost around 2000 LKR, were being sold for around 10,000 LKR. Even the cheapest seats - concrete terraces in blocks C and D, were many times the normal price for an international match.

When it became clear that crowd numbers in Sri Lanka were modest, early in the tournament, the PCB revised its ticket prices downwards on multiple occasions, until their prices were roughly equivalent to what fans would play to watch a regular ODI. However, either the downward revisions haven’t been communicated, or fans had made other plans.

The clearest indication that ticket prices are to blame for the poor crowds, is the fact that the cheapest of Khettarama’s nine stands currently has more than half the crowd in the stadium.

As tournament hosts, the PCB is in charge of ticket sales, and perhaps this is where there have been miscalculations. The PCB does not have a history of pricing tickets in Sri Lanka, nor do they have a functioning marketing arm in Colombo.

It is also clear that all boards expected many more fans from Pakistan and India to make the trip to watch this match.

Hopefully it is just running repairs. He hurt his finger when going for a low catch at deep third. He bowled two overs after that so that is a sign it is not very serious. When he is taken out of the attack as Pakistan introduce Faheem Ashraf ahead of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi has gone off the field. We will keep an eye out on how long he stays off.

In a score of 37 for 0 in six overs, Naseem Shah's figures read 3-1-6-0. His control on line and length has been immaculate, and he is getting seam movement out of the pitch. Just too good to get an edge so far.

Bring on the new India jokes, but this is no joke. It has not shown in the results, but Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid are dragging India's limited-overs batting up to date with modern cricket. Their default response to every crisis, every challenge is to attack. Just in this tournament, they counterattacked every time they lost a wicket against Pakistan. Now on a pitch with a bit of seam movement, both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are attacking the bowling. It is not mindless slogging, but it is just backing their attacking instinct when in doubt.

After that Rohit Sharma six in the first over, Shubman Gill has looked in scintillating touch. He is 25 off 13 with six fours. India 37 for 0 in five overs.

Shaheen Shah Afridi starts on the money. Rohit Sharma is watchful. Even pats a half-volley back. And then flicks the last ball of the over over square leg for a six. It is all set up for a beautiful contest. An exciting start to the contest.

Well, a last-minute bad news for India. Shreyas Iyer has had a back spasm during the warm-ups. It is a last-minute change. KL Rahul is back. The original team sheet had Iyer in, but the last-minute change has Rahul coming in for Iyer. This could have longer-term implications because Iyer has just come back from injury, played two matches and now has a back spasm.

Other changes as expected. Japsrit Bumrah comes in for Mohammed Shami.

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field. Babar Azam says there is a bit of moisture on the pitch, which they want to exploit. India would have batted first anyway.

India RG Sharma*, Shubman Gill, V Kohli, Ishan Kishan†, KL Rahul, HH Pandya, RA Jadeja, SN Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, JJ Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam*, Mohammad Rizwan†, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

Pakistan of course announced their XI yesterday itself. After their last match against India, Pakistan have made one tactical change, replacing spin allrounder Mohammad Nawaz with seam allrounder Faheem Ashraf.

All eyes on India, though. Is KL Rahul fit? If he is fit, does he walk in in place of Ishan Kishan who resurrected the India innings in the last match against Pakistan. We will soon find out.

Also new dad Jasprit Bumrah is back with the team and will play.