Arch rivals India, Pakistan score facile wins

Arch rivals India A and Pakistan A scored facile wins in their opening fixtures of the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup yesterday.

India A thrashed UAE A by eight wickets at the SSC grounds, and Pakistan A beat Nepal by four wickets at the CCC grounds.

Yash Dhull, the Indian A skipper became the second batsman to score a century in the ongoing tournament when he led the assault on the UAE bowlers with a delightful knock of 108* off 84 balls (20 fours, 1 six) as India A reached their target of 176 with 141 balls to spare.

After they lost the first two wickets for 41, Dhull joined by Nikin Jose (41* off 53 balls, 5 fours) and took India A home with an unbroken stand of 138. Seamer Harshit Rana (4/41) restricted UAE A to 175-9 after they were put into bat first.

Leg-spinner Mohammad Wasim (4/51) and seamer Shahnawaz Dahani (5/38) wrecked the Nepal batting for 179 in 37 overs to enable Pakistan A coast home with 103 balls to spare. At 72-8 Nepal would have been in a worse plight had it not been for a rearguard innings of 75 off 101 balls (9 fours, 2 sixes) from Sompal Kami who with Gharti Pratish (26) and Lalit Rajbanshi (1*) added 107 runs for the last two wickets. Pakistan A’s run chase was headed by Tayyab Tahir (51 off 67 balls, 6 fours) and contributions of 36 and 31 from Omair Yousuf and Kamran Ghulam respectively. – (ST)

RESULTS

• At SSC: India A beat UAE A by eight wickets.

UAE A 175-9 (50) (Aryansh Sharma 38, Ashwanth Valthapa 46, Mohammed Faraazuddin 35, Harshit Rana 4/41, Nitish Kumar 2/32, Manav Suthar 2/28)

India A 179-2 (26.3) (Nikin Josse 41*, Yash Dhull 108*)

• At CCC: Pakistan A beat Nepal by four wickets.

Nepal 179 (37) (Sompal Kami 75, Gharti Pratish 26, Mohammad Wasim 4/51, Shahnawaz Dahani 5/38)

Pakistan A 181-6 (32.5) (Saim Ayub 24, Omair Yousuf 36, Tayyab Tahir 51, Kamran Ghulam 31, Pawan Sarraf 2/15, Lalit Rajbanshi 3/50)