India A floor Pakistan in ACC Men's Emerging Asia Cup; book semi-final berth against Bangladesh A

Another cricketing face-off between the two arch-rivals, another chapter that promised intensity but at the end of it all, it was another chapter of Blue dominion running riot at Colombo as India A drubbed Pakistan A emphatically, clinching their berth in the semifinals of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023.

Winning the toss, Pakistan opted to bat first but instantly realised the slip-up in their decision as Rajvardhan Hangargekar dealt them a double whammy in short succession. The lanky fast bowler started his carnage of the day with the scalp of Saim Ayub and followed it up with the big wicket of Omair Yusuf.

Despite India's early blows, the pair of Sahibzada Farhan and Haseebullah Khan allowed Pakistan to stabilize their innings before Riyan Parag made his presence felt as he bested Farhan for 35. The fall of Farhan triggered a triple blow for the Pakistanis as India struck again shortly, landing the wickets of Kamran Ghulam,  Haseebullah Khan and Mohammad Haris in quick succession, leaving Pakistan teetering at 95/6.

However, the Pakistani tail-enders did put up a formidable fight as Qasim Akram, Mubashir Khan and Mehran Mumtaz knitted knocks of 48, 28 and 25 respectively while Mumtaz stayed unbeaten till the end. Riding high on an imperious fifer from Rajvardhan Hangargekar, India skittled out Pakistan for a paltry 205. Manav Suthar deserved a special mention as he clinched three wickets too to aid India's brilliance against their arch-rivals.

Coming out to bat, India had a brief hiccup as Abhishek Sharma fell for 20 but Nikin Jose paired perfectly alongside B Sai Sudharsan to allow India to run away with the fixture. A 99-run stand between Sudharsan and Jose for the second wicket propelled the Men in Blue to 157/2, before Nikin had to depart for a well-constructed 53.

However, the fall of Nikin did very little to dissuade India of their flight path and Sudarshan's unbeaten century saw India laying waste to Pakistan by eight wickets. The Gujarat Titans batter was awarded the Player of the Match for his game-defining ton while India secured themselves an important semi-final berth where they will be playing Bangladesh.