COLOMBO: Pakistan Shaheens secured a convincing 60-run victory over hosts Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup semi-final at the P. Sara Oval on Friday.

With this victory, Shaheens set up a final against arch-rivals India, who defeated Bangladesh ‘A’ by 51 runs in the other semi-final, on Sunday and an opportunity to avenge their defeat in the last group-stage match.

Arshad Iqbal’s impressive five-wicket haul and half-centuries from Omair Bin Yousuf and captain Mohammad Haris guided the Shaheens to a formidable 322 all out off the stipulated overs.

Opting to bat first, the Shaheens faced an early setback with the loss of opener Sahibzada Farhan for 12. However, Omair’s brilliant 88-run knock and valuable contributions from Haris (52) and Mubasir Khan (42) propelled them to a commanding score.

Chasing 323, Sri Lanka ‘A’ showed resilience with Avishka Fernando (97) and Sahan Arachchige’s (97) partnership of 128 runs. Despite their efforts, Arshad’s accurate bowling, claiming five wickets for 37 runs, proved too much for the hosts. They were eventually bowled out for 262 in 45.4 overs.

Later on Friday, India ‘A’ emerged victorious against Bangladesh ‘A’ at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu starred with five wickets for India, limiting Bangladesh to 160 all out in 34.2 overs.

Bangladesh’s decision to bowl first seemed fruitful as they restricted India to 211 with Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and Rakibul Hasan securing two wickets each. Captain Yash Dhull (66) top-scored for India.

Bangladesh started their chase strongly with openers Mohammad Naim (38) and Tanzid Hasan (51) providing a solid 70-run partnership. However, the Indian bowlers maintained pressure, causing the Bangladesh batting line-up to collapse.

Brief scores:

PAKISTAN SHAHEENS: 322 in 50 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 88, Mohammad Haris 52, Mubasir Khan 42; Lahiru Samarakoon 2-42, Chamika Karunaratne 2-55, Pramod Madushan 2-56); SRI LANKA ‘A’: 262 in 45.4 overs (Avishka Fernando 97, Sahan Arachchige 97; Arshad Iqbal 5-37, Sufyan Muqeem 2-44, Mubasir Khan 2-45)

INDIA ‘A’: 211 in 49.1 overs (Yash Dhull 66, Abhishek Sharma 34; Mahedi Hasan 2-39, Rakibul Hasan 2-36); BANGLADESH ‘A’: 160 in 34.2 overs (Tanzid Hasan 51, Mohammad Naim 38; Nishant Sindhu 5-20, Manav Suthar 3-32).

Published in Dawn, July 22th, 2023