Uday Saharan-led India suffered their first defeat at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Asia Cup 2023 on December 10. India lost to arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets with three overs to spare. Sialkot-born Azan Awais' unbeaten 105 and Mohammad Zeeshan's four-fer helped Pakistan register a comprehensive win to climb to the top spot in Group A.
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Earlier, Saad Baig won the toss and opted to field first. Arshin Kulkarni who scored an unbeaten 70 in the previous game was dismissed for a run-a-ball 24. Amir Hassan drew first blood in the ninth over. Rudra Patel could not rotate the strike and edged one to the wicketkeeper off Mohammad Zeeshan's bowling. Then Adarsh Singh and skipper Uday Saharan shared a 93-run partnership for the third wicket. Arafat Minhas broke the partnership in the 32nd over. Adarsh scored 62 runs from 81 balls including four fours and a six. Musheer Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Aravelly Avanish got one wicket each as India lost half their side for 158 in the 37th over.
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Sachin Dhas took the attacking route against Pakistan seamers. He played a few unorthodox shots to push the scoring rate. In the 43rd over, Saharan was dismissed by Ubaid Shah. He scored 60 runs from 98 balls including five fours. Murugan Abhishek and Raj Limbani got out for single-digit scores.ย
Meanwhile, Dhas reached his half-century with few extravagant shots. In the final over, he was dismissed by Zeeshan. Dhas scored 58 runs from just 42 balls including two fours and three sixes. The tailenders took the score to a respectable 259/9.
In the run chase, Abhishek struck with the new ball to dismiss Shamyl Hussain in the fifth over. Shahzaib Khan and Awais did not let more wickets fall against the new-ball bowlers. Shahzaib smashed three sixes and four fours in his 88-ball 63 in a 110-run partnership for the second wicket. Skipper Baig joined Awais in the middle. Awais played the anchor role while Baig took the attacking role. No bowler could break the partnership and Pakistan finished the run chase with three balls to spare. Awais scored 105 runs from 130 balls including 10 fours. On the other end, Baig remained unbeaten for 51-ball 68 featuring eight fours and one six.
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