New Delhi: Pakistan defeated the average Indian team by two wickets in the thrilling match of the Under-19 Asia Cup played in Dubai on Saturday. Batting first, the Indian team scored 237 runs.
In reply, Pakistan chased down a target of 238 for the loss of eight wickets in the final ball of the match, courtesy Ahmed Khan who hit Ravi Kumar for a four.
In the last over of the game, Pakistan needed eight runs to win with three wickets remaining. Team India’s captain handed the ball to Ravi Kumar, who got a significant breakthrough on the very first ball.
Pakistan needed two runs off the last ball with Ahmed Khan at the strikers end. Ahmed turned the game on his side by hitting a boundary off the last ball.
Earlier in the game, Pakistan Under-19 bowlers rocked the Indian batting order. Zeeshan Zamir (5/60) was the bowlers’ choice as he helped Pakistan bundle out India for a sub-par 237.
Batting first, India continued to lose wickets and were reduced to 96/5 in the 19th over. Harnoor’s 46 off 59 balls and wicketkeeper Aaradhya Yadav’s 50 off 83 balls took India past 230 runs.
Mohammad Shahzad acted with the bat for Pakistan as he smashed a match-winning knock of 81 runs off 105 balls with the help of four fours and five sixes. Ahmed Khan was another batsman who emerged as the star performer as he played a fiery cameo of late (29 not out) to lead his team to a thrilling victory.
Brief Scores: India U-19 237 all out (Aaradhya Yadav 50, Harnoor Singh 46; Zeeshan Zamir 5/60, Awais Ali 2/43) lost to Pakistan U-19 240/8 (Muhammad Shehzad 81, Irfan Khan 32; Raj Bawa 4/ 56) by two wickets.
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