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Harshit Rana has been in form as a lower-order batter, strike and death bowler. In the Men's Emerging Asia Cup 2023, Rana showed his agile fielding as well as he took a one-handed stunner at short third-man to dismiss Pakistan A's set batter.
In the 46th over of Pakistan A's innings, Qasim Akram was just two runs away from his half-century. Against Rajvardhan Hangargekar, he slashed at a delivery outside off but managed a thick outside edge. The ball seemed to be flying over short third-man fielder Rana but he timed his jump to perfection and plucked the ball out of thin air to take the catch.
After taking the catch, Rana did the ‘finger on lips’ gesture towards the crowd in support of Pakistan at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The 21-year-old could not take the wicket against Pakistan A but he turned out to be economical conceding just 30 runs from seven overs including two maiden overs.
Akram got out after scoring 48 runs from 63 deliveries including five fours. He shared a crucial 53-run partnership with Mehran Mumtaz and helped his side post a respectable total of 205 after they lost 95/6 in the 27th over.
Former Under-19 World Cup-winning member Hangargekar was on a roll against the arch-rivals. After Akram's wicket, he went on to complete his fifer by mopping up the tail which including wickets of Mohammad Wasim Jr and Shahnawaz Dahani.
In the eight overs he bowled, the 20-year-old conceded 42 runs, bowled one maiden and took five wickets. This is his second fifer in List A cricket. Also, his best bowling figures in the One-Day format.
Apart from Hangargekar, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar picked up a three-fer to run through Pakistan A’s middle-order. His wickets included Haseebullah Khan, Kamran Ghulam and the skipper Mohammad Haris.
India A have been in good form in the tournament. They started off with an eight-wicket win over United Arab Emirates followed by another comprehensive nine-wicket win over Nepal.
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