Pakistan A defeat India A in the final to win Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023

Pakistan A defeated India A by a huge margin of 128 runs in the final at Colombo.

Pakistan A came out victors in the summit clash of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 against arch-rivals India A which was played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 23, 2023.

India A had previously beaten the Shaheens in the league match quite easily, but when it mattered, the young Pakistani players stepped up to the plate and shined brightly.

Yash Dhull, India A captain, had won the toss and owing to the fact that they had been chasing well, decided to bowl first.

However, Pakistan A openers Saim Ayub (59) and Sahibzada Farhan (65) gave their team a quick start against Indian bowlers, especially in the powerplay overs, and added 121 runs in just 17.2 overs. This kept India A from gaining control of the match in the first half of the Boys in Green innings.

Then Riyan Parag jolted Pakistan A badly as he removed both Omair Yousuf (35) and Qasim Akram in two balls and then Nishant Sindhu got rid of Pakistan A captain Mohammad Haris for 2 runs as the batting side slid to 187/5 in 29 overs.

But the talented Tayyab Tahir stepped up and brilliantly counter-attacked the Indian bowlers from there on and smashed a brilliant 100 in just 66 balls and finished on 108 in 71 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes to his name.

He got much-needed support from Mubashir Khan, who made 35 and added 126 runs for the sixth wicket. Some lower-order blitz took Pakistan to a massive 352/8 in 50 overs in the final.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Riyan Parag picked two wickets each for India.

India batting crumbles under the pressure of a huge target; Sufiyan Muqeem shines with the ball

When they began their chase, the Indian openers Sai Sudharsan (29) and Abhishek Sharma were cautious a bit but did add 64 runs in 8.3 overs for the first wicket. Abhishek Sharma scored a very good 61 in 51 balls and the next best score came from skipper Yash Dhull, who made 39 runs.

Apart from these two, none of the Indian batters could do much as the Pakistan bowlers, aided by the huge total to back them, kept relentless pressure on the opposition.

Most impressive of all was left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem, who picked 3/66 and his wickets included Dhull, Abhishek, and Harshit Rana. Apart from him, Arshad Iqbal, Mehran Mumtaz, and Mohammad Wasim Jr. picked two wickets each as well.

India A were bundled out for 224 runs in 40 overs as Pakistan A won the match by 128 runs. They managed to defend their title and became back-to-back champions.

For India A and fans, it was a sad reminder of the Champions Trophy 2017 final when India conceded a huge total like this and were defeated soundly by 180 runs.

Meanwhile, Twitterverse was all abuzz after the Pakistan A side became the champions of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023.

Here are the tweets:

https://twitter.com/ACCMedia1/status/1683142238170394626?s=20

https://twitter.com/RealHa55an/status/1683145400436559872?s=20

https://twitter.com/Mickeyarthurcr1/status/1683144901502935040?s=20

https://twitter.com/SarfarazA_54/status/1683144135866454017?s=20

https://twitter.com/YounusK75/status/1683144051791462400?s=20

https://twitter.com/HarisRauf14/status/1683143205007638528?s=20

https://twitter.com/76Shadabkhan/status/1683142718242062337?s=20

https://twitter.com/iShaheenAfridi/status/1683142153592246272?s=20

https://twitter.com/Ashsay_/status/1683132035806683138?s=20

https://twitter.com/Puneite_/status/1683101273690890240?s=20

https://twitter.com/Sports_Himanshu/status/1683136474773094400?s=20

https://twitter.com/aumamara06/status/1683144120418836480?s=20

https://twitter.com/SharyOfficial/status/1683107348699643906?s=20

https://twitter.com/Sports_Himanshu/status/1683141063090003968

https://twitter.com/imdkIndian/status/1683150320627593216

https://twitter.com/mn_quasmi86340/status/1683149809769926657

https://twitter.com/ppm_444_/status/1683149655285338112

https://twitter.com/hitiur25681/status/1683148327532249088