ACC U-19 Asia Cup 2023: Azan Awais' ton, Mohammed Zeeshan's four-fer help Pakistan defeat India by 8 wickets

Dubai: Pakistan rode on Azan Awais’s classy unbeaten century to beat arch-rivals India by eight wickets in the ongoing U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday. India managed a mediocre 259 for 9 in 50 overs, largely due to late surge by Sachin Dhas, who tonked three sixes in his 42-ball-58. Skipper Uday Saharan (60 off 98 balls) and opener Adarsh Singh (62 off 81 balls) couldn’t force the pace, adding only 93 runs in 20 overs. For the winners, right-arm medium pacer Mohammed Zeeshan took four for 46. The biggest name among U-19s — Sarfaraz Khan’s younger brother Musheer (2) couldn’t repeat the performance of the opening game. In reply, Pakistan romped home in just 47 overs with southpaw Azan anchoring the chase, scoring a patient 105 not out off 130 balls with 10 fours.

He first added 110 for the second wicket with opener Shazaib Khan (63 off 88 balls) and another 125 in just 19.1 overs with Saad Baig, who smashed unbeaten 68 off just 51 balls with eight boundaries and a maximum. Skipper Saharan used as many as seven bowlers but they didn’t measure with only off-spinner Murugan Abhishek picking up the two wickets. Musheer had a forgettable outing as he was clobbered for 32 runs in four overs. India will be playing its final group league match on Tuesday against Nepal and need to win it in order to qualify for the semi-final while Pakistan with two wins from two games would have to lose by a huge margin to Afghanistan in order to qualify. It shouldn’t be a problem for India colts as Nepal aren’t the toughest team to beat, having already lost both their encounters. Brief Scores: India 259/9 in 50 overs (Uday Saharan 60, Adarsh Singh 62, Sachin Dhas 58, Mohd. Zeeshan 4/46). Pakistan 263/2 in 47 overs (Azan Awais 105 not out, Saab Baig 68 not out, Shazaib Khan 63, Murugan Abhishek 2/55).