19-year-old left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu's economical fifer helped India A defend a total of 211 and beat Bangladesh A in the semi-final of Emerging Asia Cup 2023 by 51 runs at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Yash Dhull-led India A have now booked a final date against arch-rivals Pakistan A led by Mohammad Haris.
Bangladesh A skipper Saif Hassan won the toss and opted to field first. Abhishek Sharma was cautious against the new ball. Sai Sudharsan seemed to pick right where he left off but he lost his wicket in the eighth over. Sudharsan scored 21 runs from 24 balls. Sharma and Nikin Jose shared a 45-run partnership for the second wicket but boundaries were scarce. In a matter of 11 balls, both Sharma (34) and Jose (17) departed.
Sindhu could not do much with the bat and got out for a single-digit score. Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel failed to make a mark as well. Dhull held on to one end and batted with the tail. Manav Suthar made a crucial contribution of 21 runs from 24 balls. Rajvardhan Hangargekar scored 15 runs from 12 balls. Dhull was the last one to depart. He scored 66 runs from 85 balls including six fours. India A got all out for 211 from 49.1 overs.
In the run chase, Bangladesh A got off to a terrific start. Openers Mohammad Naim and Tanzid Hasan shared a 70-run partnership from 12.4 overs. Suthar broke the partnership in the 13th over. He scored 38 runs from 40 balls including six fours. Then Sindhu got the wicket of Tanzid who scored 51 runs from 56 deliveries including eight fours. Zakir Hasan became Suthar's second victim of the evening. Sharma got into the action as well. He got the wicket of skipper Saif who scored 22 runs from 24 balls.
Soumya Sarkar and Akbar Ali got out for single-digit scores as Bangladesh A crumbled under pressure. Sindhu struck twice and got rid of Mahedi Hasan and Rakibul Hasan. Hasan Joy who was holding on to one end decided to take matters into his own hands but fell to Sindhu as the teenager completed his fifer. Suthar then got rid of the no.11 batter as Bangladesh A got all out for 160 in 34.2 overs and lost the match by 51 runs.
In the other semi-final, Pakistan A overpowered Sri Lanka A in a high-scoring encounter with a 60-run win. The arch-rivals will now take on each other on July 23.
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