Muscat: Sri Lanka will take on Afghanistan A in the final of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 after they outclassed their fancied opponents Pakistan A and India A respectively in Muscat on Friday.
The Oman Cricket Academy ground in Al Amerat will host the final on Sunday at 5.30 pm.
Batting first, Afghanistan openers Zubaid Akbari and Sediqullah Atal smashed a 137-run opening wicket partnership. Atal hit 52-ball 83 with seven four and four sixes to earn the player of the match award. Partner Akbari hit 64 off 41 balls (5x4, 4x6).
Karim Janat kept to momentum going with a 20-ball 41 with four fours and two sixes as Afghans raced to a tournament-high total of 206-4 in 20 overs.
Among Indian bowlers, only medium pacer Rasikh Salam (3-25) found some success as spinner Rahul Chahar was hit for 48 runs in three overs while Aaqib Khan conceded the same runs in his four overs.
Chasing 207 for a win, India A ended their challenge 20 runs short. Ramandeep Singh’s fighting 64 runs from 34 balls led the reply after the top-order batters failed to produce big scores. Ayush Badoni contributed 31 off 24 balls.
Run-outs of Nehal Wadhera (20 off 24) and Nishant Sindhu (23 off 13) in crucial stages derailed Indian progress after both the batters looked in good touch.
For Afghanistan, 18-year-old spinner AM Ghazanfar took 2-14 in his three overs and Abdul Rahman took 2-32 as Indian chase ended at 186-7 in 20 overs.
SRI LANKA OUTSHINE PAKISTAN
In the first semifinal, Sri Lanka A shone with the ball and bat to outplay Pakistan Shaheens by seven wickets to book the final berth.
The Lankans chased down a modest target of 136 with 21 balls to spare.
Dushan Hemantha was the star performer, taking four wickets for 21 runs and earning the Player of the Match award.
Opener Omair Yousuf hit a valiant 68 from 46 balls with five fours and four sixes to top the Pakistan scoring sheet.
Pakistan A captain Mohammed Haris won the toss and chose to bat first.
Apart from Yousuf, Pakistan A's batting line-up couldn't cope up with the precise Sri Lankan bowling led by Hemantha.
Nipun Ransika (2-21) and Eshan Malinga (2-28) also chipped in as Pakistan struggled to raise the run rate.
In response, Sri Lanka opener Yashoda Lanka was given out for obstructing the field in the third over for the first wicket.
Pakistan A’s joy was short-lived as opener Lahiru Udara struck a quickfire 43 off 20 balls with two fours and four sixes and Ahan Wickramasinghe top-scored with an unbeaten 52 off 46 balls (4x4, 6x1).
Captain Nuwanidu Fernando was out for 9 near the target as Sahan Arachchige hit 17 not out to reach the target in 16.3 overs.
For Pakistan, Abbas Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem took one wicket each.
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