India on Monday defeated Afghanistan by 4 wickets to enter the semi-finals of the Under-19 Asia Cup. Bawa (43 not out) and Tambe (35 not out) took charge as India were struggling at 197 for six but both played their part well as India set a target of 260 with 10 balls to spare. achieved.
Earlier, in-form opener Harnoor Pannu (65) and his partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi (35) gave the team a good start by adding 104 runs for the first wicket. In the middle order, however, captain Yash Dhull (26) and Nishant Sindhu (19) could not convert a good start into big scores after which Bawa and Tambe took charge. With this win, India finished second behind Pakistan in Group A. Pakistan won all their matches.
India will take on the winner of the match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the semi-finals. The winner of Tuesday’s match between the two will decide the team that tops Group B. India finished second in their group, so they will play the first place team in the second group in the semi-finals. After being invited to bat first, Afghanistan scored 259 for four with Suliman Safi’s patient knock of 73 and Ejaz Ahmed Ahmedzai’s unbeaten 86 off 68 balls.
Chasing a challenging target, India got off to a good start and scored 44 runs in six overs for no loss. Harnoor and Raghuvanshi consistently brought the ball to the boundary line. Harnoor hit eight fours and Raghuvanshi hit six fours in his innings. Left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed (4 for 43) broke the partnership by dismissing Raghuvanshi leg before. After this, Harnoor and Sheik Rashid (six) also returned to the pavilion, taking the score to 116 for three.
Captain Dhul and Sindhu tried to improve the innings. Khalil Khaleel dismissed Sindhu, taking the score to 162 for four. Noor Ahmed took his third wicket by dismissing Dhull and then dismissed Aradhya Yadav (12) leg before, creating a ruckus in the Indian camp. In such circumstances, Bawa and Tambe acted patiently and took their team to the last four. Tambe hit the winning boundary.
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