COLOMBO – Pakistan A defeated India A by 128 runs in the final of the Emerging Asia Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
Chasing a gigantic target of 353 runs set by Pakistan, the entire Indian squad collapsed at 224 runs in 40 overs. Spinner Sufiyan Muqeem took three important wickets. He dismissed Indian opener Abhishek Sharma at 61, captain Yash Dull at 39 and Harshit Rana at 13. He conceded 66 runs in 10 overs.
Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Wasim and Arshad Iqbal claimed two wickets each. For India, opener Abhishek Sharma was the top run-scorer with 61 runs in 51 balls.
Earlier, Pakistan A had set for India A target of 353 runs on a good batting surface. Middle-order batter Tayyab Tahir scored a brilliant century to help Pakistan post a massive total on the board after being asked to bat first.
India A won the toss and choose to bowl first against Pakistan A in the highly-anticipated final. India were unchanged from the semis while Pakistan made one change, with Mehran Mumtaz replacing Amad Butt.
For Team India, Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Riyan Parag took two wickets each.
Tayyab Tahir’s belligerent ton and fifties from the opening duo power Pakistan Shaheens to 3️⃣5️⃣2️⃣-8️⃣ ????#ACCMensEmergingTeamsAsiaCup | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/4B1HbD2gs3
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 23, 2023
Squads
Pakistan A: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Omair Yousuf, Tayyab Tahir, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Haris (capt, wk), Mubasir Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Wasim (1), Arshad Iqbal, Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan Shaheens’ playing XI for the #ACCMensEmergingTeamsAsiaCup final ????#BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/UXdbJxg2bz
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 23, 2023
India A: Sai Sudharsan, Abhishek Sharma, Nikin Jose, Yash Dhull (capt), Riyan Parag, Nishant Sindhu, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Manav Suthar, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Harshit Rana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Emerging Asia Cup: Pakistan get ticket to finals after defeating Sri Lanka