Bawa (43 not out) and Tambe (35 not out) were in trouble when India were in trouble at 197 for six but they remained calm to take the ‘Boys in Blue’ to their required target of 260 with 10 balls to spare.
A 4-wicket win over Afghanistan U19 has ensured India U19’s qualification for the semi-finals of the #U19AsiaCup… https://t.co/m5Gb9yzAET
— BCCI (@BCCI) 16406111595000
In-form opener Harnoor Pannu (65) and his partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi (35) added 104 runs for the opening stand. However, the middle order between captain Yash Dul (26) and Nishant Sindhu (19) was poor. It was left to Bawa and Tambe to take the team home.
With this win, India moved to the second place in the group behind Pakistan, who won all their matches.
India will face the winners between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who are pitted against each other in the final group league match.
With India finishing second, they will meet the toppers of the second group.
It was a game where India got back on a winning track.
Coming to bat at the ICC Academy Oval 2, Afghanistan captain Suleiman Safi’s patient 73 and Ijaz Ahmed Ahmedzai’s unbeaten 86 off 68 balls took Afghanistan to a respectable 259/4.
Chasing 260, Harnoor, who hit nine boundaries and Angkrish went for a flier, as India posted 44 for no loss in six overs.
Boundaries were raining on the ground, with the two openers carrying out the Afghan attack with great ease.
India were cruising at 74/0 after 12 overs. However, Raghuvanshi was trapped from the front by an unconventional left-arm spinner. Noor Ahmadi (4/43) as he broke the opening stand of 104 runs.
India slip to 116/3 as Afghanistan remove Harnoor and sheikh rashid (6) cheaply. Then skipper Dhul and Sindhu tried to take the game deeper but Khalel Khalel removed Sindhu to put India back at 162/4.
Noor Ahmed got his third spot after Ishaq stumped Dhul in the 36th over, as India lost half their team for 183 runs. Noor then trapped Aaradhya Yadav (12), leaving India at 197/6.
Bawa and Tambe had a great job in hand, but they made a match-winning stand to prop up their side in the final four leg, with Tambe rightly ending the game with a boundary.
Brief scores: Afghanistan U19 259/4 (Ajaz Ahmed Ahmedzai 86 not out, Suleiman Safi 73; Kaushal Tambe 1/25) lost to India U19 262/6 (Harnoor Singh 65; R Bawa 43 not out; Noor Ahmed 4/43 by four wickets.
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