Minhas hits 172 as Pakistan crush India to clinch U-19 Asia Cup title

A dominant all-round performance, led by a century from Sameer Minhas and a four-wicket haul by Ali Raza, guided Pakistan U19 to a thumping 191-run win over India U19 in the final of the ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai on Sunday.

This marked Pakistan’s first outright ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup title, having previously been declared joint winners in the 2012 edition.

Sameer Minhas smashed a blistering 113-ball 172 and powered Pakistan to a thumping 191-run win over an out-of-sorts India to clinch the U-19 Men’s Asia Cup title.

It also meant that India, which had an unbeaten campaign so far, suffered their heaviest defeat in terms of runs in Youth ODIs. Pakistan, meanwhile, has grabbed the U-19 Men’s Asia Cup trophy for the first time, having shared the 2012 edition title with India, where the final ended in a tie.

Pakistan players celebrate with the trophy after winning the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai. Courtesy: PCB X

Asked to bat first on a pitch that aided great strokeplay, Pakistan were clinical in their approach to post an imposing 347/8, with Minhas, one of the standout batters in the competition, leading the charge in commanding fashion by hitting 17 fours and nine sixes.

He also shared partnerships of 92 and 137 with Usman Khan (35) and Ahmed Hussain (56) as Pakistan ensured the Indian bowling line-up, barring spinner Khilan Patel, had an outing they would not like to remember.

The only solace for India, who looked unsorted in their fielding, was that they managed to pull things back in the last 10 overs to keep Pakistan three runs short of 350.

In the chase of a massive target, India began brightly in reply, racing to 32 runs in the first two overs. But the chase unravelled swiftly after skipper Ayush Mhatre fell cheaply in the third over.

Once Vaibhav Suryavanshi fell for a 10-ball 26, the rest of the Indian batting line-up never showed any kind of fight. India’s batters perished to rash strokes on short balls, leaving them reeling at 68/5 by the end of the power-play. From there, despite Deepesh Devendran top scoring with 36, India were bowled out for 156 in 26.2 overs, with Pakistan pacer Ali Raza taking 4-42.

Brief scores: Pakistan U-19 347/8 in 50 overs (Sameer Minhas 172, Ahmed Hussain 56; Deepesh Devendran 3-83, Khilan Patel 2-44) beat India U19 156 all out in 26.2 overs (Deepesh Devendran 36, Vaibhav Suryavanshi 26; Ali Raza 4-42, Huzaifa Ahsan 2-12) by 191 runs

Agencies