Muscat, Nov 12 (IANS) Skipper Lakshya Raichandani’s commanding 93 off 90 balls powered India to a crushing eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the second semi-final of the Under-19 Asia Cup here on Thursday, sending them to the final. The result also means India will ace arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-octane title clash on Saturday.
Chasing 228 at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, India finished with 79 balls remaining, their top three batters the chief run-scorers. Apart from Lakshya, Aaryavir Sehwag chipped in with 51 off 57 balls, while VK Vineeth stayed unbeaten on 57 off 62 balls to take India home.
Afghanistan elected to bat first after winning the toss and appeared to be building towards a big total. At 143/3 in the 36th over, they had wickets in hand and were well placed to cut loose in the business end of their innings. But the innings lost its way soon after, three wickets fell in quick succession, with Aryan Savsani doing the bulk of the damage by striking twice in a single over to dismiss Amir Hamza and Tahir Sarwary.
Noman Salarzai and Shah Faisal Rahimi both made 51 runs, but neither were able to shift gears against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. Captain Sohail Khan’s unbeaten 36 off 44 balls took Afghanistan to 227/8, a total that always looked a touch short on a pitch offering little help to the bowlers.
The Indian seamers gave nothing away with the new ball, and the spinners then squeezed the life out of the middle overs. Manal Chauhan, Yashbardhan Chauhan and Savsani kept a tight grip on the scoring rate, and the fielding was largely sharp. An impressive Ishan Sood was the pick of the bowlers with 3-43, while Savsani finished with 2-29.
Once Afghanistan failed to get early breakthroughs in the chase, their task of defending the total became an uphill one. Raichandani took charge and attacked the bowling from the outset, while Sehwag played the anchor’s role at the other end.
The opening pair added 117 runs before Sehwag was dismissed shortly after reaching his fifty. Vineeth rotated the strike smartly, hitting his shots whenever the chance came, brought up his own half-century, and finished the match in style with a six off Noor Ali Niazi.
Raichandani, who got a lot of his runs through the off-side, especially via the cover drive, fell seven short of a well-deserved hundred - the only blemish on an otherwise near-perfect day for India. The pitch also became easier to bat on as the game went on, a trend seen throughout the tournament, and the Indian batters made full use of it.
Saturday’s title clash also gives India a chance to avenge last year’s result. The two sides met in the final of the previous edition of the competition last year, where Pakistan walked away with the trophy.
In this edition of the competition, Pakistan defeated India by three wickets in the group stage, thanks to an unbeaten ton by Hamza Zahoor. Pakistan, meanwhile, reached the final with a nine-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh in the first semi-final, with Rizwanullah picking 5-30.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 227/8 in 50 overs (Noman Salarzai 51, Shah Faisal Rahimi 51; Ishan Sood 3-41, Aryan Savsani 2-29) lost to India 230/2 in 36.5 overs (Lakshya Raichandani 93, VK Vineeth 57 not out; Sohail Khan 1-56, Noor Ali Niazi 1-58) by eight wickets
Chasing 228 at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, India finished with 79 balls remaining, their top three batters the chief run-scorers. Apart from Lakshya, Aaryavir Sehwag chipped in with 51 off 57 balls, while VK Vineeth stayed unbeaten on 57 off 62 balls to take India home.
Afghanistan elected to bat first after winning the toss and appeared to be building towards a big total. At 143/3 in the 36th over, they had wickets in hand and were well placed to cut loose in the business end of their innings. But the innings lost its way soon after, three wickets fell in quick succession, with Aryan Savsani doing the bulk of the damage by striking twice in a single over to dismiss Amir Hamza and Tahir Sarwary.
Noman Salarzai and Shah Faisal Rahimi both made 51 runs, but neither were able to shift gears against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. Captain Sohail Khan’s unbeaten 36 off 44 balls took Afghanistan to 227/8, a total that always looked a touch short on a pitch offering little help to the bowlers.
The Indian seamers gave nothing away with the new ball, and the spinners then squeezed the life out of the middle overs. Manal Chauhan, Yashbardhan Chauhan and Savsani kept a tight grip on the scoring rate, and the fielding was largely sharp. An impressive Ishan Sood was the pick of the bowlers with 3-43, while Savsani finished with 2-29.
Once Afghanistan failed to get early breakthroughs in the chase, their task of defending the total became an uphill one. Raichandani took charge and attacked the bowling from the outset, while Sehwag played the anchor’s role at the other end.
The opening pair added 117 runs before Sehwag was dismissed shortly after reaching his fifty. Vineeth rotated the strike smartly, hitting his shots whenever the chance came, brought up his own half-century, and finished the match in style with a six off Noor Ali Niazi.
Raichandani, who got a lot of his runs through the off-side, especially via the cover drive, fell seven short of a well-deserved hundred - the only blemish on an otherwise near-perfect day for India. The pitch also became easier to bat on as the game went on, a trend seen throughout the tournament, and the Indian batters made full use of it.
Saturday’s title clash also gives India a chance to avenge last year’s result. The two sides met in the final of the previous edition of the competition last year, where Pakistan walked away with the trophy.
In this edition of the competition, Pakistan defeated India by three wickets in the group stage, thanks to an unbeaten ton by Hamza Zahoor. Pakistan, meanwhile, reached the final with a nine-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh in the first semi-final, with Rizwanullah picking 5-30.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 227/8 in 50 overs (Noman Salarzai 51, Shah Faisal Rahimi 51; Ishan Sood 3-41, Aryan Savsani 2-29) lost to India 230/2 in 36.5 overs (Lakshya Raichandani 93, VK Vineeth 57 not out; Sohail Khan 1-56, Noor Ali Niazi 1-58) by eight wickets
