New Delhi: The 2023 ACC U19 Asia Cup, is nearing its league stage end. With only three more league matches to between the two groups, the battle for the semifinals is wide open, except for the men in blue, who have booked their tickets to the semifinals with a thumping win over the neighbours from Nepal.
India, which was placed in ‘Group A,’ along with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal, booked their place in the semifinals, with 4 points in three matches and a healthy net run rate of +1.85.
Snapshots from the second innings of Nepal(U19) vs India(U19) in the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup🏏
Photo: ACC#weCAN | #HappyDressingRoom | #OneBallBattles | #NepalU19 | #NepalCricket | #ACCMensU19AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/4BF2W9CQ2g
— CAN (@CricketNep) December 12, 2023
India will now go up against one of the two qualified teams from Group B in the semifinals.
Check the full highlights below:
As it happened
In their group stage match, which was essentially a do-or-die game for India, the men in blue won the toss and opted to bowl first.
The Nepalese team was never in the game as the Indian bowlers had been on their neck since the beginning.
Indian pacer Raj Limbani took the first two scalps after dismissing Deepak Bohra (1) and Uttam Magar (0), inside the 20 runs mark.
Aaradhya Shukla, removed Arjun Kamal (7) before Limbani again struck twice by sending Dev Kamal (2) and Dipak Dumre (0), back-to-back.
Aaradhya Shukla took his second wicket of the day by removing Gulshan Jha (4) before Limbani completed his fifer after removing Dipak Bohra (7).
Spinner Arshin Kulkarni also took the wicket of Dipesh Kandel (4), before Limbani removed Subash Bhandari (2) and Hemant Dhami (8), to finish off his spell with seven wickets and Nepalese innings at 52.
The highest scorer for the Nepalese team was extras at 13.
In reply, Indian openers Adarsh Singh (13*) and Arshin Kulkarni (43*), had a walk in the park with the 53-run chase and finished it with ten wickets and 257 balls to spare.
