Singapore, Aug 18:
Medium pacer Sandeep Warrier picked up three wickets, while opener Unmukt Chand struck a patient half-century as India’s Under-23 team got the better of arch-rivals Pakistan by three wickets in a limited overs Group ‘A’ match of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup, here today.
Chasing 192 for victory, Indians got off to a fine start with Under-19 World Cup winning skipper Chand (61) and Lokesh Rahul (46) providing the team a solid platform. And despite the middle-order batsmen not contributing handsomely, India could sail home with 13 balls to spare at Kallang Ground.
Chand and Rahul shared a 84-run stand for the opening wicket.
Apart from the duo, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav also made an useful contribution with 23 runs after Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Raza Hasan picked up three wickets to take the contest to the closing stages.
Opting to field, the Indian pace duo of Sandeep Sharma and Warrier proved their captain’s decision right by exposing Pakistan’s frail batting line-up.
Both displayed an incisive spell of fast bowling to slice through the opposition top-order line-up, reducing Pakistan to 22 for three inside 10 overs.
Openers Babar Azam (2) and Azeem Ghumman (3) departed in quick succession, while Bilawal Bhatti (7) too made his way back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers much.
It was then left to Umar Waheed (46) and Usman Salahuddin (61) to steady the rapidly sinking ship and provide some stability to the innings.
The pair added 85 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team’s total past 100-run mark before left-arm spinner Akshar Patel broke the stand by scalping Waheed.
Pakistan never recovered from the loss and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals before Salahuddin also ran out of his patience and was caught by Baba Aparajith at covers off Warrier in the 47th over of the innings.
His 105-ball 61 was studded with just two hits to the fence. (PTI)
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