India vs Pakistan cricket clash, be it at any level, is always intriguing. Whenever the arch-rivals face off on the cricket field, there is huge interest. India's clash against Pakistan at the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 was a widely followed event with the Narendra Modi Stadium jam-packed during the day of the match. After the ODI Cricket World Cup, on Sunday, it was time for the U-19 stars of the two teams to prove their mettle against each other at the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
Batting first, India scored 259/9 in 50 overs with three players opener Adarsh Singh (62), captain Uday Saharan (60) and no. 7 batter Sachin Dhas (58) scoring a half-century each. In reply, Pakistan batters gave a better account of themselves with Azan Awais scoring a ton.
The match also saw a freak dismissal. It happened on the second ball of the 32nd over at a time when Adarsh Singh was batting on 62 off 80 balls. The left-handed India batter tried to play Pakistan left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas towards the mid-wicket, and under-edged the ball which went and got stuck in between the pads of Pakistan wicketkeeper Saad Baig. The umpire adjudged him out.
Talking about the match, Azan Awais's unbeaten ton and Mohammad Zeeshan's four-fer inflicted an eight-wicket defeat on the India U-19 team in the fifth match of the Asian Cricket Council Under-19s Asia Cup on Sunday.
Azan's breathtaking display with the bat made the Indian bowling unit look out of their depth during the chase of 260.
Apart from Murugan Abhishek's two wickets, the rest of the bowlers toiled hard but ended the day without a single wicket in their kitty.
After producing a clinical display with the ball and restricting their arch-rival to a score of 259/9 in 50 overs, the Men in Green got off to a start which bore resemblance to the performance of India in the first innings.
The Men in Blue accumulated 42 runs for a loss of one wicket in the powerplay. On the other hand, Pakistan also lost a wicket but registered 48 runs on the board.
The 110-run stand between Azan and Shahzaib Khan completely took away the game from India in the coming overs. The left-hand combination took the fight to the bowlers, kept the fielders on their toes and picked up boundaries according to the demands of the chase.
With ANI inputs