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Azan Awais's unbeaten ton and Mohammad Zeeshan's four-fer inflicted an eight-wicket defeat on the India U-19 team in the fifth match of the Asian Cricket Council Under-19s Asia Cup on Sunday.
Azan's breathtaking display with the bat made the Indian bowling unit look out of their depth during the chase of 260. Apart from Murugan Abhishek's two wickets, the rest of the bowlers toiled hard but ended the day without a single wicket in their kitty. After producing a clinical display with the ball and restricting their arch-rival to a score of 259/9 in 50 overs, the Men in Green got off to a start which bore resemblance to the performance of India in the first innings. The Men in Blue accumulated 42 runs for a loss of one wicket in the powerplay. On the other hand, Pakistan also lost a wicket but registered 48 runs on the board. The 110-run stand between Azan and Shahzaib Khan completely took away the game from India in the coming overs. The left-hand combination took the fight to the bowlers, kept the fielders on their toes and picked up boundaries according to the demands of the chase. Abhishek scalped his second of the night by dismissing Shahzaib for 63 came in a bit too late. The bowlers pressed for a collapse but Azan's presence kept a composed and calm atmosphere in the dugout as well as on the field. Azan stitched up a match-winning 128* run partnership with skipper Saad Baig to take Pakistan across the finishing line. Earlier in the innings, after India were put to bat first, skipper Uday Saharan (60), opener Adarsh Singh (62) and Sachin Dhas (58) fought valiantly against a fierce bowling set-up. Their crucial knocks propelled India to a score of 259/9. Mohammad Zeeshan's four-fer and Amir Hassan and Ubaid Shah scalped two each to restrict India from reaching a total past 300. (ANI)
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