A brilliant batting display from the top order and exhilarating ground fielding was the key as India defeated traditional rivals Pakistan to win the ACC Asia Cup Under-19 tournament.
At Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday, the Indians avenged the narrow loss to the same opponents in the group stage as they first posted a mammoth 314-8 before restricting Pakistan to 274-9, winning the final by 40 runs.
Vijay Zol and his team played aggressive cricket from the word go, and the captain himself led the way with a century. There was another three-figure knock for the most well-known name in the tournament – Rajasthan Royal’s IPL star Sanju Samson.
Both batsmen scored exactly 100 and built on an explosive start provided by Ankush Bains, who smashed 47 off 34 balls and added 65 runs in the first 6.3 overs with Akhil Herwadkar.
That wrested the initiative from Pakistan, who had won the toss and elected to bowl.
A late collapse could not prevent the Indians from reaching a total of 314. In reply, Pakistan lost early wickets at regular intervals, and despite an unbeaten 102 from Kamran Ghulam inside 89 balls, and 87 from opener and captain Sami Aslam, they fell short.
When Pakistan batted, the Indian seamers Milind Chama and Avesh Khan bowled well in the beginning and spinners Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav complemented them perfectly. But they looked better than they actually were because of the brilliant ground fielding.
There are improvements to be made – for instance throwing – but it would not be an exaggeration to say India will be strong favourites to win the ICC Under-19 World Cup starting in the UAE next month on the basis of their fielding strength.
The decisive period of the match – apart from the simple chance of Zol floored by Salman Sayeed when he was on 33 – was when the Indian spinners removed three Pakistan middle-order batsmen in the space of three overs for 11 runs. Pakistan never recovered from there.
Earlier, the Indian innings was given a good start as Bains and Herwadkar put on 65. Once Herwadkar departed, Zol, who recently scored an unbeaten 200 in a domestic first class match, took charge with his knock of 100 off 120 balls.
Along with the big-hitting Samson whose ton included four sixes, Zol put on a crucial partnership of 180 runs for the third wicket which powered the Indians.
For Pakistan, all one can say is that cricket can be cruel game. They dominated the tournament winning all their group matches, came to the final on an 18-match winning streak, made a clean sweep all the individual awards but lost the trophy that mattered.
