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Yash Dhull-led India A overpowered Mohammad Haris' Pakistan A in their group clash of Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023. Sai Sudharsan's unbeaten 104 and Rajvardhan Hangargekar's fifer helped India beat the arch-rivals by eight wickets with 80 balls to spare at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on July 19.
Earlier, Haris had won the toss and opted to bat first. Rana started off with a maiden over. In the fourth over, Hangargekar struck twice to dismiss Saim Ayub and Omair Yousuf for ducks. Sahibzada Farhan used the powerplay overs well and hit a few boundaries. Riyan Parag in his third over got Farhan's wicket off a short ball. Farhan went for a pull shot but could not clear the boundary and got caught in the deep. He scored 35 runs from 36 balls including eight fours.
Kamran Ghulam struggled to score freely. In the 23rd over, left-arm spinner first got the wicket of Ghulam as he went down the track and got stumped. Then Haseebullah got out bowled. Ghulam scored 15 off 31 balls whereas Haseebullah scored 27 runs from 55 balls. From 78/5 in 23rd over, all eyes were on skipper Haris but he became Suthar's third victim of the day. He could score just 14 runs from 13 balls.
Wasim Akram and Mubasir Khan got the innings back on track. In the 38th over, Sidhu broke the partnership as Mubasir was hit on the pads. He scored 28 runs from 38 balls including four fours. Mehran Mumtaz looked to score freely to push the scoring rate. Akram accelerated as well. He threw the kitchen sink at a ball away from body bowled by Hangargekar but the thick outside edge was caught by Rana as he took a one-handed stunner. Akram scored 48 runs from 63 balls including five fours. In his next over, Hangargekar mopped up the tail with the wickets of Mohammad Wasim Kr and Shahnawaz Dahani. As Hangargekar completed his fifer, Pakistan got all out for 205 in 48 overs.
Chasing a below par target of 206, India A got off to a good start. Sudharsan started off with two boundaries against Wasim Jr. Then Abhishek Sharma hit three fours off Dahani. The opening partnership was broken by Mubasir. Abhishek got out bowled. The southpaw scored 20 runs from 28 balls including four fours. Nikin Jose came out to bat and pounced on scoring opportunities. Sudharsan got to his half-century with a six in the 19th over. Hose completed his half-century in the 28th over from 58 deliveries.
Mumtaz broke the second-wicket partnership in the 31st over. Jose got stumped off Mumtaz's bowling. He scored 53 runs from 64 balls including seven fours. Dhull came out to bat and hit Mumtaz for a six and a four. He looked in a hurry to finish off the run chase. In the 37th over, Sudharsan hit Dahani for consecutive sixes to reach his century. The Chennai-born batter remained unbeaten for 104 off 110 balls including 10 fours and three sixes. The 21-year-old guided India to an eight-wicket win with 13.2 overs left in the innings.
Dhull-led India will now play the semi-final on July 21 against Bangladesh A.
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