India Under-19s vs. Pakistan Under-19s – Asia Cricket Council - Group A match - Recap
After a nail-biting finish, Pakistan Under-19s held nerves to defeat India Under-19s by a one-run margin. The match was worthy of a Pakistan-India rivalry as both sides fought it out till the end at the Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur, on June 24, 2012.
The two leading Asian sides were pitched against each-other in their group A match, already wining their respective opening games by 8 wickets – the Men in Green toppling http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Malaysia-c2949.
After winning the toss India chose to field first, and for a moment the decision seemed right as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Babar-Azam-c1122 for 4.
However, soon it became clear that it was a batting track as Pakistani pair of Sami Aslam and youth ODI debutant Imam-ul-Haq began to settle down. The duo then built a steady 213-run partnership without taking too many risks, providing a solid platform for
the remaining batters.
Aslam (121) scored a brilliant century which included fifteen fours and a towering six, while his partner gave strong support with a gutsy 88. Both however, fell in the space of two overs with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohsin-c77587 Sayyed claiming the scalps.
Mohammad Nawaz then chipped in with a useful 43 before a flurry of wickets, Umar Waheed (11), Ehsan Adil (1), http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 for less than 300, settling on 287.
For the Indian side, Kalaria was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 54 runs, followed by an expensive Sayyed with 2 for 63. Vikas Mishra also chipped in with a scalp, conceding 51 in the process.
Indian batting had early shudders with Akhil Herwadkar (22) and Baba Aparajith (0) went in quick succession however, skipper Unmukt Chand and Vijay Zol steadied the innings with a useful stand of 86.
Chand fell to Akhtar Waheed after scoring a fighting 49 but Zol managed to carry the batting workload and together with vice-captain, Akshdeep Nath, raised another solid partnership of 71 runs.
The crucial breakthrough came when a settled Nath was ran out by Ehsan Adil on 42, giving the opposition a welcome break which further slowed down the proceedings for the Indian team.
Sanju Samson (3) and Smit http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Huzefa-Mohammed-Patel-c63657 (12) couldn’t stay longer however; Zol was again involved in a crucial 51-run stand with Rush Kalaria.
Finally, all came down to the last over, with the batting side requiring 17 to win. Kalaria hit http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Nawaz-c77155 for a six on the very first ball but perished on the next delivery, caught by Azam for 30.
Zol then took strike and he hit a boundary on the third ball before taking a single on the fourth.
Sayyed smashed another boundary on the second-last delivery to make it 2 to win but Nawaz kept his cool by running out the player, who tried to sneak a single.
Zol played superbly for his unbeaten 109 however; his efforts went in vain as Sami Aslam was declared the Player of the Match.
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