The high-stakes ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan got underway at the ICC Academy Ground, Dubai, with Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf winning the toss and opting to bowl first.
The fifth match of the tournament was reduced to 49 overs per side due to a rain delay.
All eyes were on Vaibhav Suryavanshi, but the 14-year-old batting sensation endured a rare failure as he was dismissed early in India’s innings. Suryavanshi fell on the second ball of the fourth over, scoring five runs off six balls, with Mohammad Sayyam taking the catch to hand Pakistan an early breakthrough.
Suryavanshi opened the batting alongside India U19 captain Ayush Mhatre. Mhatre, who had a modest outing in India’s previous match against the UAE U19, scored four runs off 11 balls in that game and later bowled five overs for 20 runs without taking a wicket.
The spotlight on Suryavanshi followed his extraordinary performance in India’s tournament opener, where he smashed a record-breaking 171 off just 95 balls, including nine fours and 14 sixes, to power India to a massive 433/6. UAE were restricted to 199/7, earning Suryavanshi the Player of the Match award.
Pakistan also entered the contest in formidable form after thrashing Malaysia U19 by 297 runs in their Group A fixture. Pakistan posted 345/3 before bowling Malaysia out for just 48 in 19.4 overs. Ali Raza and Mohammad Sayyam picked up three wickets each, while middle-order batter Sameer Minhas starred with a commanding 177 off 148 balls, laced with 11 fours and eight sixes, to be named Player of the Match.
India U19 vs Pakistan U19 – Playing XIs
Pakistan U19:
Usman Khan, Sameer Minhas, Ali Hassan Baloch, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf (c), Hamza Zahoor (wk), Huzaifa Ahsan, Niqab Shafiq, Abdul Subhan, Mohammad Sayyam, Ali Raza
India U19:
Ayush Mhatre (c), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vihaan Malhotra, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Deepesh Devendran, Kishan Kumar Singh, Henil Patel