In the U19 Asia Cup semi-final on December 19, India posted a crushing win against Sri Lanka and entered the final with a resounding victory of eight wickets at the ICC Academy Ground, Dubai. Captain Ayush Mhatre’s side went through a thorough performance by first destroying the Sri Lankan team and then letting the fans know the blockbuster final is there.
The Indian team will now play the ultimate rival, Pakistan, in the final match on December 21, which is going to be a fantasy-like battle between the two powers of the subcontinent.
Pakistan earlier that day had also taken their position in the final by hitting hard the defending champions, Bangladesh, with an additional impressive eight-wicket victory at The Sevens Stadium. The strong performance of the Pakistani side not only eliminated the reigning titleholders from the tournament but also confirmed their place in the championship match.Â
India and Pakistan will face off in the U19 Asia Cup final
Sri Lanka went in first and managed to score 138 runs for the loss of eight wickets, which was a pretty fair but small score for the wicket. Viran Chamuditha started very fast with a score of 19 off 11 balls. The captain, Vimath Dinsara, played a solid innings of 32 which held the innings together.
The main contributors were Chamika Heenatigala, who scored the highest (42 off 38 balls), and Sethmika Seneviratne, whose 30 off 22 balls of aggressive batting really helped to improve the total score. India’s bowlers were very disciplined and Henil Patel and Kanishk Chouhan took two wickets each. Kishan Singh was the most impressive, as he only allowed his rivals to score 20 runs in his four overs and at the same time, he kept the pressure on them throughout.
India’s run chase was off to a rough start as captain Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi went back to the pavilion in just four overs, but Vihaan Malhotra and Aaron George acted as the calm in the storm and built up an unbeatable partnership of 114 runs that brought the team to the winning side.
Malhotra, who had recently signed with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, scored a smooth and uninterrupted 61 off 35 balls and George gave great support with a not-out 58 off 43 balls. India completed the chase in 18 overs with 12 balls left. The two made the team of the match for their contributions in winning the match.
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