Ramandeep Singh’s half-century couldn’t save India A from a 20-run loss to Afghanistan A in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup T20 semifinal held in Al Amerat, Oman, on Friday. Afghanistan A will now face Sri Lanka A in the final.
Afghanistan A chose to bat first and posted 206/4, the highest total in the tournament. This was made possible by a strong 137-run opening partnership between Sediqullah Atal, who scored 83 off 52 balls, and Zubaid Akbari, who made 64 off 41 balls.
India A struggled in their chase, losing five wickets by the 13th over. Ramandeep Singh and Nishant Sindhu then put together a quick 68-run partnership in just 31 balls. However, when India needed 53 runs from the last three overs, Nishant was run out after a miscommunication, having scored 23 off 13 balls.
Afghanistan’s Abdul Rahman, who took 2/32, bowled the final over and managed to dismiss Ramandeep on the last ball, limiting India to 186/7.
Sri Lanka A earlier secured their spot in the final by defeating Pakistan Shaheens. They restricted Pakistan to 135/9 and chased the target down in 16.3 overs, winning by seven wickets. Leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha took 4/21, while Nipun Ranskika and Eshan Malinga claimed two wickets each.
Afghanistan A got a strong start, reaching 61 without loss by the sixth over, with Zubaid and Sediqullah dominating the Indian bowlers. Zubaid hit four sixes and five fours, while Sediqullah added four sixes and seven fours.
After Zubaid was dismissed, Karim Janat continued the aggressive play with a quick 41 off 20 balls, including two sixes and four fours. Rasikh Salam then delivered a crucial spell, taking three wickets, including two in consecutive balls, to curb Afghanistan’s scoring in the final overs.
India A had a shaky start, losing three wickets within the powerplay overs. Allah Mohammed Ghazanfar took the wickets of Abhishek Sharma (7) and Prabhsimran Singh (19), while Tilak Varma (16) fell to Abdul Rahman, leaving India at 48/3 in 5.4 overs. Ayush Badoni (31) and Nehal Wadhera (20) tried to stabilise the innings but Afghanistan triggered another collapse.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan A 206/4 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 83, Zubaid Akbari 64, Karim Janat 41; Rasikh Salam 3/25) beat India A 186/7 in 20 overs (Ramandeep Singh 64) by 20 runs.