- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 30 Nov 2024 08:33 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND U19 vs PAK U19, ACC U19 Asia Cup 2024: Pakistan defeated India by 43 runs in their tournament opener of the ongoing continental tournament on Saturday in Dubai. While batting first, the Men in Green posted a respectable target of 281/7, where Sahzaib Khan was the highest run-scorer as he had scored 159 runs off 147 balls. While chasing, the Men in Blue were skittled out for 238 runs in 47.1 overs, where Nikhil Kumar was the highest run-getter as he had scored a gritty knock of 67 runs off 77 balls.
Pakistan had a flying start as openers Usman Khan and Shahzaib Khan stitched a match-winning partnership of 168 runs for the first wicket. Usman played the role of a second fiddle as Shahzaib looked at his absolute best. He scored 50 runs off 67 balls whereas Usman scored his half-century off 83 balls.
Ayush Mhatre ended his partnership as he got Usman out after scoring 60 runs. But Shahzaib held Pakistan's innings from the other end and changed the pace after bringing up his half-century. He then scored his hundred off 107 balls and then began batting aggressively.
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He had smacked three consecutive sixes in Hardik Raj's over and Samarth Nagaraj then took his wicket after he had scored 159 runs. Shahzad had hit five fours and 10 sixes in his knock and helped the team post a respectable target of 281/7.
During the second innings, the Men in Blue suffered a top-order batting collapse as opener Ayush Mhatre fell cheaply after scoring just 20 runs. The 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi also failed to perform and was dismissed after scoring just one run. Andre Siddarth C and skipper Mohammad Amaan's wicket had again put India under immense pressure as they were tottering at 81/4 in 20.5 overs.
Nikhil Kumar (67) helped the team bounce back and got assistance from Kiran Chormale (20). But after Nikhil got out on 67, India's hopes of winning the match ended as they needed another 108 runs off 84 balls. Harvansh Singh (26) and Mohammed Enan (30) did help the team bounce back but failed to take the team across the line. Due to this, the Men in Blue were skittled out for 238 runs and lost the match by 43 runs. Shahzaib Khan won the Man of the Match award for his scintillating century.