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'Mazaa aa gya, yeh toh hona hi thha' - Fans react as India beat Nepal by 23 runs in 2022 Asian Games quarter-finals

India qualified for the 2022 Asian Games men's cricket competition after defeating Nepal by 23 runs on Tuesday.

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Daniel S
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IND vs NEP Asian Games

IND vs NEP Asian Games (Source: Twitter)

Last week, India's women's cricket team made their country proud with a historic gold medal, and now their men's team has started the campaign on a high note, aiming to repeat the same. The Men in Blue defeated Nepal by 23 runs in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Asian Games and advanced to the last four of the multi-sports event. Nepal may have lost the game, but they can take pride in putting up a tough fight in Hangzhou on Tuesday, October 3.

Opting to bat first at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, India got off to a solid start with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal firing all guns blazing. Attacking the Nepal bowlers right from the start, the young lad was simply outstanding in the powerplay. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad struggled to get going and it was Jaiswal's innings that laid the foundation for Team India. The opening pair put on a 103-run partnership before Gaikwad was dismissed for 25 off 23 balls in the 10th over.

Nepal picked up a couple of more wickets in quick succession as Tilak Varma and Jithesh Sharma failed to shine. However, Jaiswal stood tall with a superb century (100 off 49 balls) - his first in T20Is. A handy cameo from Shivam Dube (25 off 19) and Rinku Singh's blistering finish (37 off 15) helped India post 202-4 in 20 overs. India looked set to score 250 when Jaiswal was firing, but they were not disappointed as the track was difficult to bat on.

Indian bowlers lacked discipline as Nepal batters gave them a bit of a scare

In response to India's competitive target, the Nepal openers started strongly but failed to capitalise on the powerplay. After losing Aasif Sheikh in the fourth over, Kushal Bhurtel (28 off 32) and fastest centurion Kushal Malla (29 off 22) tried to form a partnership. However, a timely strike from spinner Sai Kishore, who dismissed Bhurtal, dealt another blow to Nepal.

Dipendra Singh Airee, who recently broke India legend Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest T20I fifty, scored 32 off 15, while Sundeep Jora (29 off 12) also chipped in with brief cameos. Nepal put up a strong fight but the target was beyond their reach. Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi picked three wickets each, while Sai Kishore picked a wicket and took three wickets to have an impressive debut.

Here's how fans reacted to India advancing to the semi-finals of the 2023 Asian Games: 

India Asian Games Asian Games 2023 Nepal