Lokesh Rahul shines as India U-23 beat Pak to win Emerging Teams Cup

A clinical India Under-23 outfit lifted the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup with a resounding nine-wicket win over Pakistan Under-23 in the final here Sunday.

After the Indian bowlers bundled out Pakistan for a paltry 159, the top-three batsmen polished off the target in 33.4 overs. Opener Lokesh Rahul (93 not out) carried on his dazzling form in the series, forming a match-winning 132-run partnership with another in-form batsman, Manpreet Juneja (51 not out), the BCCI website reported.

While Rahul was the more attacking partner with 11 fours and a six, Juneja dropped anchor.

The Pakistani bowlers managed only a solitary wicket, that of out-of-touch opening batsman, Unmukt Chand (15), who was dismissed by Raza Hasan.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Pakistan skipper Hammad Azam elected to bat first. The openers got off to a slow start and were back in the pavilion at the end of the 10th over, leaving their team on 34 for 2.

Umar Waheed (41) was the only top-order batsman to show some resolve as the Indians chipped away with wickets at regular intervals. A 50-run stand for the last wicket between Usman Qadir (33) and Ehsan Adil (20 not out) took Pakistan U-23 past the 150-run mark.

Baba Aparajith was India’s most successful bowler with figures of 7-1-28-3. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav picked up two wickets in his 10 overs, giving away a mere 20 runs while pacer Sandeep Sharma achieved similar figures in eight overs. Sandeep Warrrior and Ankit Bawne claimed a scalp each.

Brief Scores: India U-23 160 for 1 in 33.4 overs (Rahul 93 not out; Hasan 1/41) beat Pakistan U-23 159 all-out in 47 overs (Waheed 41; Aparajith 3/28) by 9 wickets.

IANS