9:50 PM IST and Local Time: MATCH ABANDONED! Match Referee Javagal Srinath calls in the Pakistani skipper Babar Azam and they shake hands. Now, Rohit Sharma also shakes hands with Srinath followed by shaking hands with Babar Azam. The players from both sides shake hands and with some friendly words as well.
As expected, the consistent rainfall has the final say on the Asian Derby. The mother of all battles has been called off after one full innings. The crowd didn't leave the ground and were expecting at least a shortened game but now, both sides share a point each.
Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in deciding to bat first under the overcast conditions with the weather around. Rohit and Shubman Gill watchfully negotiated the couple of overs each of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah before the drizzle halted the match for a few minutes.
Shaheen hit the right areas after the resumption and cleaned-up both veterans of Indian cricket, Rohit and Virat Kohli in his consecutive overs and put India under pressure. Shreyas Iyer was looking good with hitting a few glorious shots before the Haris Rauf bouncer had his name on it. Iyer's wicket was followed with the dismissal of scratchy-looking Gill with Rauf showing there is no substitution for raw pace.
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya batted brilliantly, first milking the spinners before getting themselves set for the pacers. Both hit respective fifties and were involved in a 138-run partnership for the 5th wicket, taking the score from 66/4 to 204 before India got into tangles getting collapsed.
Kishan was brilliant for his 82 runs off 81 balls, while Pandya hit 87 runs in 90 balls. Rauf (3/58) and Shaheen (4/35) were at their absolute best, followed by Naseem Shah (3/36) cleaning up the tail with a three-wicket haul. Jasprit Bumrah showed some of his batting skills in the last few overs and was the last man to get out with India getting bundled out for 266 inside the 49th over.
The rain that started pouring down during the innings break never allowed the game to continue. But there was a couple of instances where the rain eased out, raising the hopes of the cricket enthusiasts. Finally, the consistent downpour made the match-officials to call off what would have been a nail-biter.
Pakistan stay at the pole position of Group A with 3 points from two matches and they become the first team to qualify for the Super Fours. On the other hand, India have one point from one match and are in second place with a game in hand against Nepal on 4th September.