Mirpur, Mar 2: Pakistan seamer Mohammad Talha struck the most telling blows in the marquee Asia Cup clash, leaving India in strife at 113 for 4 in 25 overs, despite a sparkling half-century from Rohit Sharma. Talha generated good bounce off an upright, uncomplicated action to dismiss Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane in his first ODI spell, after India's form batsman Virat Kohli had earlier been snapped up by Umar Gul.
Dhawan had been the initial aggressor, but Rohit soon caught the spark, flitting forward to a Mohammad Hafeez ball, to lift him over extra cover in the third over. On a benign surface that provided no lateral movement to the seamers, Rohit was particularly severe on errant lengths. A short-of-a-length Junaid Khan delivery was whipped over the deep midwicket boundary in the seventh over, before the next ball was clipped to the fine leg fence. When Misbah-ul-Haq kept Junaid on for another over, Rohit welcomed him with a lofted off-drive, before coming down the track to repeat the dose four balls later.
Rohit was uncowed by dismissals at the other end. Dhawan was trapped in front by Hafeez for 10, when he tried to play him off the back foot, and Virat Kohli made a subdued start before practically gifting his wicket away. He ran an innocuous short ball off the face of the bat, straight into the keeper's gloves.
Saeed Ajmal's introduction crimped the flow of runs and Talha delivered an accurate spell at sprightly medium-pace. Together the pair conceded only eight runs between the 16th and 19th overs, and their parsimony forced Rohit's error. Spotting a Talha delivery not short enough to pull, Rohit spliced it high into the air on the leg side, where Hafeez took a fine running catch, over his shoulder. Though two other converging men had ceased their pursuit early enough to avoid a full-on collision, they could not prevent mishap altogether. Hafeez clipped Sharjeel Khan's left leg on his sprint through, and Sharjeel was forced to leave the field assisted.
Rahane had played with flair for his 23, but he grew a little too ambitious, attempting to flick an offside ball to the leg side. Failing to control that shot in the 24th over, he chipped it to Hafeez at midwicket.
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