DUBAI: Pakistan outplayed India in the U-19 Asia Cup final, beating their arch-rivals by a massive margin of 191 runs to lift the trophy.
India won the toss and opted to field first; however, the decision proved to be wrong as the Pakistani batters smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the park.
Opener Sameer Minhas played a magnificent innings of 172 runs off just 113 deliveries. He slaughtered the Indian bowlers by hitting 9 sixes and 17 fours.
Ahmed Hussain made 56 runs, while Usman Khan was the other top-scorer with 35 runs.
Pakistan scored 347/8 in their allotted 50 overs. Deepesh and Khilan picked up three wickets and two wickets, respectively.
India, after being bashed with far too many runs, were never in the game when they came out to chase.
The Indian batting collapsed, with wickets falling at regular intervals. India were all out for just 156 runs in the 27th over.
Deepesh Devendran, after picking up 3 wickets, played well for his 35 runs off 16 balls. 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the other top scorer with 26 runs.
However, India fell 191 runs short of Pakistan’s sublime total. Ali Raza of Pakistan bowled sensationally and picked up four wickets, while Sayam, Subhan, and Huzaifa shared two wickets each.
Sameer Minhas was declared Player of the Match.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan’s A team had just won the Emerging Asia Cup trophy two weeks ago, beating Bangladesh in the final in a thrilling super-over contest.
