Sehwag junior’s 160 carnage powers India to semifinals

Al Amerat: Aaryavir Sehwag, son of India icon Virender Sehwag, scored a masterful 160 from 168 balls to help India U19 beat UAE U19 by 70 runs in the U19 Asia Cup at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground (Ministry Turf 2) here on Tuesday.

The victory also helped India U19 confirm their place in the U19 Asia Cup semifinal as they have finished their Group A in second place behind Pakistan U19, who had edged past the Indian side earlier in the league stage.

India have two wins in three matches as they had earlier defeated the Nepal U19 side too. In the semifinal, the eight-time U19 champions India will be up against 2017 winner Afghanistan U19 on Thursday.

Coming to the match, the Indian U19 side made a strong total of 309/7 in 50 overs. Opener Aaryavir scored 160 with 17 fours and seven sixes to hold the team’s innings together. No.3 VK Vineeth was the only other player with a notable score as he made 67 from 69 balls. The junior Sehwag and Vineeth put up a 193-run partnership for the third wicket and put India U19 on the door of a strong total.

The Indian side lost its way a bit in the death overs as, from 255/1 in 44.1 overs, they slipped to 299/7 in 49.1 overs and ended up making 309/7. For UAE, medium-pace bowler Naseem Khan was the pick of the bowler for having taken 4-48 in his 10 overs.

Coming into the chase, India kept a lid on the UAE side with regular wickets. Right-arm fast bowler Ishan Sood stood out with 4-37 in his seven overs, while all of the other six bowlers also took a wicket each to bowl UAE for 239.

No.4 Ahmed Khudadad was the only saving grace for the UAE side as he made a run-a-ball 74 and did the damage control. Captain and opener Ayaan Misbah (27) and other opener Zainullah Rehmani (16) got starts but could not capitalise, as did Yayin Rai, who scored 29 but fell to Yashbardhan Chauhan.

While the wickets were falling, Khudadad held one end up to put up a lone fight, and despite Noorullah Ayobi coming with a 25-ball 39-run cameo, UAE were considerably short in the end.

While India U19 will meet Afghanistan U19 in the second semifinal, defending champions Pakistan U19 will lock horns against Bangladesh U19 in the first semifinal, which is also scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Brief Scores:

India U19 309/7 in 50 overs (Aaryavir Sehwag 160, VK Vineeth 67; Naseem Khan 4-48, Noorullah Ayobi 1-59) beat UAE U19 239/10 (Ahmed Khudadad 74, Noorullah Ayobi 39; Ishan Sood 4-37, Aryan Savsani 1-21) by 70 runs.

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The Hans India