U19 Asia Cup: India, Pakistan qualify for semi-final with dominating wins

Pakistan U19 team kept their momentum going in the U19 Asia Cup 2023 by defeating Afghanistan by a big margin of 83 runs on Tuesday, 12 December. Playing in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan put up a strong batting display and scored 303 runs in the first innings, courtesy of half-centuries from openers Shamyl Hussain, Shahzaid Khan, and Riaz Ullah. The team defended their strong total by bowling out Afghanistan for 220 runs to clinch a clinical victory.

This was the Pakistan side's third victory in three matches that saw them qualify for the semi-final of the tournament as the Group A table-toppers. India on the other hand, shook off their defeat against Pakistan in their previous match and hammered Nepal by 10 wickets. Raj Limbani picked up 7 wickets for just 13 runs as India bowled out Nepal for just 52 runs in 22.1 overs. Coming into bat, India



openers Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni hit a 57-run partnership in just 7.1 overs to take the team through to the semis.

India were earlier beaten by Pakistan in their previous match of the tournament. India were troubled by Pakistan seamers early in the morning and were restricted to just 259 runs for the loss of the 9 wickets. In the second innings of the match, India failed to restrict Pakistan's runflow. Youngster Azan Awais hit a terrific century and remained unbeaten at 105 off 130 balls to take Pakistan home. Captain Saad Baig also scored runs with the bat and remained unbeaten alongside Awais in the game.

India captain Uday Saharan spoke after the match and said that the seam and swing in the morning session put them in trouble and the same help was not available for the India bowlers in the second innings of the match.