Courtesy: ACC/BCCI
On Monday, October 21, India A defeated the UAE in a one-sided match by seven wickets with 55 balls to spare in their second Group B clash of the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024. After bundling out the UAE for just 107 runs in 16.5 overs on the back of an exceptional bowling spell from Rasikh Salam, India A chased down the total comfortably, thanks to a swashbuckling fifty from Abhishek Sharma at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground Oman Cricket (Ministry Turf 1).
For the unversed, after winning the toss, Basil Hameed, the captain of the UAE, decided to bat first, but his decision turned out be disastrous as they lost five wickets inside the powerplay overs. Rasikh Salam picked up three wickets in one over to break the back of the UAE batting lineup, while the decent bowling spells from Ramandeep Singh, Anshul Kamboj, and Vaibhav Arora were more than enough to bundle them out for a paltry score.
Rahul Chopra was the top scorer for the UAE on the evening with his 50 runs off 50 balls, which included two fours and three maximums, while Basil Hameed contributed 22 runs in 11 balls with one four and two maximums as well. In the run chase, India A lost the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh early before Abhishek Sharma and captain Tilak Varma stitched together a 73-run stand for the second wicket.
Both these two batters were dismissed in quick succession, but they had put India A well on their way to a convincing win, which was achieved in 10.5 overs with a four by Ayush Badoni. The top scorer for India A was Abhishek Sharma, who got 58 runs off just 24 balls with six fours and three maximums, to help the team consolidate their position on top of the standings in Group B of the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024.
