Afghanistan A defeated India A by 20 runs in the second semi-final of the ACC T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
This was the first defeat for the Tilak Varma-led side and a heartbreaking one for the Indian team and fans. Afghanistan A won the toss and opted to bat first in the knock game.
The openers Sediqullah Atal and Zubaid Akbari gave a flying start to their side. Both had a partnership of 137 runs for the first wicket in 14 overs. Akbari scored 64 runs and Atal scored 83 runs. Karim Janat scored 41 off just 20 deliveries towards the end of the innings. Afghanistan A finished with 206-4 in their 20 overs.
Rasikh Salam picked up 3 wickets for India A and Aaqib Khan picked up one wicket.
Top order failed for India A, Ramandeep’s valiant effort went in vain
Chasing 207 runs, India A lost Abhishek Sharma in the 3rd over for just 7 runs. Prabhsimran Singh played a couple of shots but was dismissed for 19 in the 5th over. Skipper Tilak Varma also got out in the next over with India being 48-3 after 5.4 overs.
Ayush Badoni and Nehal Wadhera steadied the ship as they scored 32 runs between them. Wadhera was looking good before he got run out for 20 runs. After that Badoni was dismissed for 31 with the score being 100-5 in the 13th over.
All-rounder Ramandeep Singh tried his best but it was all futile in the end. He scored 64 runs off 32 deliveries including 8 fours and 2 sixes. He had a partnership of 68 in just 31 deliveries with Nishant Sindhu (23 runs) which kept India’s hopes alive. The Afghan bowlers were disciplined with their lines and lengths, especially towards the end of the innings. They never allowed India to dominate the game.
Allah Ghazanfar picked up 2 important wickets in the powerplay. Abdul Rahman also had a couple of wickets to his name with Sharafuddin Ashraf picking up one.
Earlier, Sri Lanka A defeated Pakistan A by 7 wickets in the first semi-final.
Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A will be against each other in the final of the tournament on 27th October 2024 at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.
