India defeated Afghanistan by four wickets with 10 balls to spare in their last group match in the U19 Asia Cup on Monday. The win seals their berth in the semis of the tournament.
A half-century by opener Harnoor Singh (65) and useful knocks from Raj Bawa (43 not out), Kaushal Tambe 35 (not out), and captain Yash Dhull (26) enabled India to chase down the target of 260 in 48.2 overs.
Earlier, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai and skipper Suliman Safi made half-centuries as Afghanistan made 259/4 in the 50 overs.
Chasing 260, India got off to a flying start as openers Harnoor Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi put on 104 runs for the first wicket. However, Afghanistan stormed back into the game as Noor Ahmad dismissed Harnoor Singh and Raghuvanshi (35) while Bilal Sami got the wicket of Shaik Rasheed.
After the loss of Rasheed, India started to gain an upper hand as Dhull and Nishant Sindhu stitched a 46 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. The quick wickets of Nishant Sindhu (19), Dhull, and Aaradhya Yadav (12) left the India U19 tottering at 197/6, still, 63 runs away from victory. But Bawa and Tambe then played useful knocks and guided India to a victory.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 259/4 (Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai 86, Suliman Safi 73; Kaushal Tambe 1-25); India 262/6 (Harnoor Singh 65, Raj Bawa 43*; Noor Ahmad 4-43).
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