ACC Emerging Cup: Yash Dhull, Harshit Rana shine to hand India 'A' thumping win over UAE 'A'

Colombo: Skipper Yash Dhull led from the front with a blazing unbeaten century after pacer Harshit Rana’s heroics with the ball as India ‘A’ registered a commanding eight-wicket win over UAE ‘A’ in their opening match of the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup here on Friday. Right-arm fast bowler Rana (4/41) was right on the money after Dhull won the toss and elected to field. He was ably supported by Andhra pacer Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/32) and slow left-arm orthodox Manav Suthar (2/28) as India ‘A’ restricted UAE ‘A’ to a paltry 175 for 9 in their 50 overs. The target was never going to threaten the Indians and they completed the formalities in 26.3 overs, reaching 179 for the loss of two wickets. Sent into bat in the Group B match, UAE ‘A’ never got going and found it difficult to accumulate runs against the Indians’ incisive bowling. Ashwanth Valthapa (46), opener Aryansh Sharma (38) and Mohammed Faraazuddin (35) were the only three significant contributors for the Arab side. Chasing 176 to win, India ‘A’ lost both their openers — Sai Sudharsan (8) and Abhishek Sharma (19) inside the sixth over with the scoreboard reading 41 but Dhull (108 not out) and Nikin Jose (41 not out) ensured an easy win, stitching unbeaten 138 runs for the third wicket. Dhull’s attacking knock was full of flair and timing as he scored his 108 runs off just 84 balls, finding the boundary fence as many as 20 times and clearing it once. Jose, on the other hand, played the second fiddle and decorated his 53-ball innings with just five boundaries. Pace combination of Ali Naseer (1/14) and Muhammad Jawadullah (1/47) were the wicket-takers for UAE ‘A’. India ‘A’ will next play Nepal here on 17 July before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan ‘A’ on 19 July in the final group game. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals to be played on 21 July. The final is scheduled to be held on 23 July. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.