U-19 Asia Cup: India defeated Afghanistan by 4 wickets to enter the semi-finals

India will take on either Bangladesh or Sri Lanka in the semifinals on Thursday

India defeated Afghanistan to book their spot in the semi-finals of the tournament. The Men in Blue defeated Afghanistan by 4 wickets with 10 balls left in Dubai on Monday.

After the victory, BCCI tweeted, “A 4-wicket win over Afghanistan U19 has ensured India U19’s qualification for the semi-final of #U19AsiaCup to be played on Thursday.”

Opener Harnoor Singh (65) was the highest scorer for India, while Raj Bawa (35*) and Kaushal Tambe (43*) played a crucial role in India’s victory. 

Chasing 260, India had got off to an excellent start courtesy of Harnoor Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi putting on 104 runs for the first wicket. However, Afghanistan stormed right back into the contest with three wickets in quick succession.

The middle-order caved in with skipper Yash Dull (26) and Nishant Sindhu (19) failing to convert a good start. It was left to Bawa and Tambe to take the team home with a victory.

As for the Afghan boys, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai had played an unbeaten knock of 86 as Afghanistan posted 259/4 in the allotted fifty overs. Their skipper Suliman Safi also played a knock of 73 off just 86 balls with the help of seven boundaries and one six. It was a game where India returned to winning ways.

With this win, India placed second in the group behind the Pakistan team, which won all its matches.

India will face the winners between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who are scheduled to play against each other in the last group league encounter.