U19 Asia Cup: Pakistan Beat India By 2 Wickets

Mohammad Shehzad's 82 and a five-for from Zeeshan Zameer led Pakistan to a two-wicket win over arch-rivals India in a last-ball thriller in the U-19 Asia Cup, here on Saturday.

Right-arm medium pacer Zeeshan (5/60) wreaked havoc as Pakistan bundled out India for 237. In reply, Pakistan achieved the target for the loss of eight wickets with Ahmed Khan (29 not out) hitting the winning runs on the last ball of the match at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground.

Chasing 238 to win, Pakistan got off to a shaky start as opening batter Abdul Wahid Bangalzai got out on the second ball of the innings for zero.

Maaz Sadaqat (45) was then joined by right-handed batter Shehzad as the pair added 64 runs for the second wicket. After the departure of Maaz, wicketkeeper-batter Haseebullah (3) was next to follow as Pakistan were 69 for three in the 17th over.

From there, Shehzad contributed a 46-run partnership for the fourth wicket with captain Qasim Akram (22) and a 44-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Irfan Khan (33) that kept the Pakistan scoreboard moving.

In the end, Shehzad, who top-scored with 82 off 105, along with useful cameos by Ahmed (29) and Rizwan Mehmood (29) led Pakistan to the victory.

For India, Raj Bawa was the most successful bowler with 4/56.

Earlier, batting first, India got off to a disastrous start and were reeling at 41 for four in the eighth over courtesy of Zameer's three wickets upfront.

The right-arm pacer accounted for Angkrish Raghuvanshi (0), Sheikh Rasheed (6), and captain Yash Dhull (0). He went on to take two more wickets in the last spell of his bowling to end up with match figures of five for 60 from 10 overs.

Right-arm fast Awais Ali, took two wickets for 43 as India were bowled out for 237 in the 49th over.

For India, Aaradhya Yadav top-scored with 50 off 83 while Harnoor Singh (46), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (33), and Kaushal Tambe (32) were other contributors with the bat.

India will face Afghanistan in their next match on Monday while Pakistan will play UAE on the same day at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai.

Brief scores:

India U-19 237 all out, 49 overs (Aaradhya Yadav 50, Harnoor Singh 46; Zeeshan Zamir 5/60, Awais Ali 2/43) lost to

Pakistan U-19 240/8 in 50 overs (Muhammad Shehzad 81, Irfan Khan 32; Raj Bawa 4/56) by two wickets.