- Pakistan beat India by 128 runs.
- Sufiyan Mukim took three important wickets to give victory to Pakistan.
- On the basis of good batting, Pakistan A had given a target of 353 runs to India A.
All-rounder Pakistan Shaheen defeated India A by 128 runs to win the Emerging Asia Cup in the final played in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Chasing the target of 353 runs, India was dismissed for 224 runs in 40 overs.
Spinner Sufiyan Mukim caused all kinds of trouble for the Men in Blue by taking three crucial wickets including opener Abhishek Sharma, who scored 61, skipper Yash Dul, who was set for 39 off 41, and 13-year-old Harshit Rana, while conceding 66 runs in 10 overs.
Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Wasim and Arshad Iqbal took two wickets each.
For India, opener Abhishek Sharma top-scored with 61 off 51 balls.
Earlier, Pakistan A had given a target of 353 runs to India A while batting well.
Put in to bat first, Pakistan put up a huge score on the board with the help of a brilliant century from middle-order batsman Tayyab Tahir.
Pakistan were in a precarious position after losing five wickets for just 187 runs but Tahir attacked the Indian bowlers and scored 108 runs in just 71 balls with the help of 12 fours and four sixes. His strike-rate was an impressive 152.11.
Pakistan got off to a strong start with half-centuries from openers Sahibzada Farhan (65 off 62 balls) and Sam Ayub (59 off 51 balls) adding 121 runs for the first wicket. However, India bounced back with quick wickets in the middle overs.
Tahir put on 126 runs in 98 balls for the sixth wicket with Mubasir Khan, who made 35.
Rajvardhan Hungergekar and Riyan Parag took two wickets each for the Men in Blue.
In the much-anticipated final, India A won the toss and elected to field against Pakistan A.
India went into the semi-finals unchanged while Pakistan made one change and included Mehran Mumtaz in place of Amad Butt.
Let us tell you that in the second semi-final of the Emerging Asia Cup on Friday, India A defeated Bangladesh A by 51 runs.
Chasing the target of 212 runs, the Bangladesh team was dismissed for 160 runs in 34.2 overs.
On the other hand, Pakistan A defeated Sri Lanka A by 60 runs to enter the final of the Asian competition.
Right-arm fast bowler Arshad Iqbal got his maiden List A fifer, helping Pakistan A bowl out the opponents for 262 in reply to a target of 323.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam visited Pakistan Shaheen ahead of the Emerging Asia Cup final on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Babar was seen chatting with the players and giving them the much-needed confidence boost as the youngsters geared up for the final against India A.
Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani and other players were sitting and listening to the captain.
lineup
India A: B Sai Sudarshan, Abhishek Sharma, Nikin Jose, Yash Dhull (c), Riyan Parag, Nishant Sindhu, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Manav Suthar, Yuvrajsinh Dodia, Harshit Rana, Rajvardhan Hungergekar
Pakistan A: Saeem Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Omair Yousuf, Taib Tahir, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Haris (c, wk), Mubasir Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Wasim, Arshad Iqbal, Sufiyan Muqeem
