India A succumbed to a 128-run defeat against Pakistan A in the ACC Emerging Asia Cup final at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
Pakistani openers Saim Ayub (59 off 51 balls) and Sahibzada Farhan (65 off 62 balls) gave their team a flying start. However, Tayyab Tahir's fiery knock of 108 off 71 balls helped Pakistan post a daunting total of 352 in their 50 overs.
Mohammad Wasim Jr. too chipped in with a cameo of 17 off 10 balls in the death overs to further aid the cause.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Riyan Parag were the pick of the bowlers as they picked two wickets each.
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In response, India too made a strong start as Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma posted an opening stand of 64 runs. Sudarshan was controversially dismissed by Arshad Iqbal as it seemed that the bowler had overstepped the line.
After his departure, wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Barring skipper Yash Dhull, who scored 39 off 41, Sudarshan, and Sharma (61 off 51 balls) no other batsman could cross the 15-run mark.
Sufiyan Muqeem picked three wickets whereas, Arshad Iqbal, Mehran Mumtaz, and Wasim Jr. bagged two scalps each.
India A vs Pakistan A: ACC Emerging Men's Asia Cup final highlights
What did Yash Dhull say after the loss?
"They batted very well, we controlled it well in the middle, but they batted well. It was a big target but we played some poor shots. The decision was okay, but they batted well and the wicket was also fresh. We played some bad shots [at three wickets down] and went down from there. None of us have played international cricket so it was a good platform for us to play and a good environment," he said.
Nishant Sindhu was adjudged the player of the tournament for picking 11 wickets in the competition.
The leading wicket-taker of #ACCMensEmergingAsiaCup, Nishant Sindhu becomes the Player of the Tournament 🙌
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2023
He finishes the competition with 1⃣1⃣ wickets 👏👏
Scorecard - https://t.co/qztT65tDLs #ACC pic.twitter.com/E0UeVqWfs5
"It felt good playing the tournament. There were many competitive teams so it feels good to perform. We tried to win today as well, but we couldn't unfortunately. Today the wicket was better to bat on so I was just trying to bowl dot balls and create pressure. The mood in the camp was normal. We were just looking to go out there and play according to the situation," he said.
MORE: Who is Yash Dhull? The India A captain leading by example in the ACC Emerging Men's Asia Cup
