Following solid performances in group stages, Pakistan has fallen prey to India in the semi-final of the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Cup.
Pakistan were placed alongside Bangladesh, UAE and Hong Kong in Group B. The Greens won 2 of their 3 matches and topped the group with 4 points.
In Group A, India were also unbeaten with 3 victories to their name against Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Oman.
Crumbling Under Pressure
Pakistan lost the toss and were asked to bat first. The team got off to the worst possible start after losing the opener Sahibzada Farhan on the first ball of the 3rd over. Hussain Talat returned to the pavilion in the same over and Pakistan were struggling at 5 for 2.
Captain Mohammad Rizwan came in next and stabilized the innings with a solid 67 runs but Pakistan kept losing wickets from the other end in succession.
Saud Shakeel, who was a part of Quetta Gladiators in the previous PSL edition, showed his class by scoring 62 in pressure situation.
Apart from Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel, no other batsman managed to score 20 or above in the innings.
Markande took 4 wickets for India in 9.4 overs and conceded only 38 runs whereas Yadav and Rajpoot managed 2 wickets each.
Pakistan ended up scoring 172 runs and lost all of their wickets in the 45th over.
Failure to Contain Indian Batsmen
Chasing 172, India started off slowly and also faced the same fate as Pakistan after losing their opener inside the 3rd over. Ashiq Ali and Muhammad Musa gave Pakistan some hope after dismissing Gaikwad and Mulani for 20 and 19 respectively but it was not meant to be.
Unbeaten innings from Himmat Singh and Nitish Rana took the game out of Pakistan’s hands as they scored 59 and 60 respectively.
India will now face either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in the final of the Emerging Cup. As it stands, Sri Lanka are chasing a total of 237 runs. Sri Lanka’s scorecard currently reads 110 for 4 in 24 overs.
| Match Summary |
|---|
| Pakistan Innings — 172 all out (44.4 overs) |
| M. Rizwan — 67 |
| S. Shakeel — 62 |
| India Innings — 178/3 (27.3 overs) |
| Himmat Singh — 59 |
| Nitish Rana — 60 |
| Result: Pakistan lost by 7 wickets |
Rizwan is best Man in Pakistan need some tanning for build a pressure in team.