Pakistan A has clinched the title of ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 after defeating India A in the final. Pakistan A themselves were the champions of the previous edition of the tournament.
The Pakistan Shaheens were victorious by massive 128 runs at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Invited to bat first, Pakistan piled up a humungous total of 325/8 at the end of the allotted 50 overs.
Tayyab Tahir was the star with an electrifying 71-ball 108 runs with 12 fours and four sixes. Earlier, the openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan yielded a brilliant start adding 121 runs stand. The duo notched up 59 and 65 runs, respectively. Omair Yousuf and Mubasir Khan also added 35 runs each.
In response, India were wrapped up for 224 in 40 overs. Openers Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma showed a promising start adding 64 runs in the ninth over before Sai’s dismissal for 29 runs. India were 132/2 in the 20th over when Abhishek Sharma departed for 61 runs from 51 balls. India then couldn’t build a decent partnership and faced a big loss. They lost seven wickets for just 92 runs.
For Pakistan A, Sufiyan Muqeem picked up three wickets, whereas Mohammad Wasim Jr and Mehran Mumtaz grabbed two each.
Centurion Tayyab Tahir was adjudged player of the match. Nepal’s Umpire Buddhi Pradhan and Lyndon Hannibal were the umpires of the match.
India’s Nishant Sindhu ended up as the highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets. Similarly, Sri Lanka’s Avishka Fernando added the highest (255) runs in the tournament.
The tournament was set to feature the ‘A’ teams of the five full members of the Asian Cricket Council, along with the top three teams from the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup – Nepal, UAE, and Oman. However, both UAE and Oman decided to participate by sending their respective A teams to compete in the event.
Nepal started the tournament with a defeat against Pakistan, followed by a massive loss against India. They defeated UAE to wrap up the tourney.
