Pakistan set India a 348-run target in U-19 Asia Cup final

DUBAI: Pakistan Under-19 team Sunday set India a target of 348 runs to win the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup final being played in Dubai.

India won the toss and elected to field first against Pakistan. Batting first, Pakistan scored 347 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted overs.

Opening batter Sameer Munhas played a commanding innings, scoring 172 runs, which included nine sixes and 17 fours. Ahmed Hussain contributed 56 runs, while Usman Khan added 35. Captain Farhan Yousaf scored 19 runs and Hamza Zahoor made 18.

As on previous occasions, there was no handshake between the two captains at the toss. The captains also did not shake hands during the trophy photo session prior to the match.

Speaking before the match, Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf said the team was fully prepared, would fight hard and aim to secure the title.

Earlier, Pakistan Under-19 defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first semi-final, while India beat Sri Lanka in the second semi-final to qualify for the final.

Pakistan have won the ICC Under-19 World Cup twice but have never won the Under-19 Asia Cup. In the 2012 edition, Pakistan and India were declared joint champions.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf (c), Hamza Zahoor (wk), Huzaifa Ahsan, Niqab Shafiq, Mohammad Shayan, Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan and Mohammad Sayyam.

India: Ayush Mhatre (c), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vihaan Malhotra, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran and Kishan Singh.