Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill overcame earlier fears to lead India to a ten-wicket victory against Nepal in a rain-hit match in Pallekele.
Nepal showed great promise and determination in their first international match against India in the Asia Cup on Monday in Kandy.
Nepal did well to keep their fight going after an impressive half-century stand to start their innings, while India's spinners made things difficult for them between rain interruptions. Aasif Sheikh smashed a half-century from the top of the order and received solid backing from the other ends.
But India did not help themselves by dropping three chances early in the innings, credit must go to the Nepal openers for taking full advantage of their opportunities and hitting the boundary at regular intervals to put pressure on the Indian bowlers.
India came back with the ball dropping Nepal to 144/6, but Sompal Kami hit a good-looking 48 off 56 balls from the lower order to put the score above 200. Nepal built on 230 in the dying overs, a score that gave their bowlers a fighting chance.
Karan KC next continued to get over Rohit Sharma with an outstanding opening over, hitting the Indian captain on both the inside and outside edge. While a review for an LBW call proved pointless, Nepal gave India an early fear.
After the rain break, Karan continued his superb performance, holding Rohit at away with some excellent lines and movement off the deck, but once the opener broke the shackles, there was no turning back.
As the partnership increased in size, Rohit fired a variety of strokes, while Gill continued to pump the bowlers for runs. The increased target of 145 in 23 overs was easily completed, as India advanced to the Super 4s stage.
Earlier in the match, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj both got three wickets for India. Kuldeep Yadav bowled a cruel session of 10-2-34-0 to keep his end tight, while Hardik Pandya came in useful as a first-change bowler.
On September 10, India will play Pakistan before facing the two teams which qualified from Group B.
