Men in Blue produced a scintillating performance to crush Pakistan-A in their final Group stage match and finish on top of Group B in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Indian opener Sai Sudharsan played a superb knock of unbeaten 104 and Nikin Jose hit a 64-ball 53 to help India-A chase down the target of 206 runs in just 36.4 overs. India-A will take on Bangladesh-A in the semi-finals on July 21, Friday at Premadasa Stadium.

Earlier, it was Indian pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who single-handedly hammered arch-rivals Pakistan with a five-wicket haul. Pakistan’s decision to bat first backfired as Hangargekar started off with a double wicket maiden in the 4^th over. Sahibzada Farhan scored a run-a-ball 35 before Riyan Parag removed him. Young spinner Manav Suthar then gave a huge blow to Pakistan by dismissing Kamran Ghulam (15) and Haseebullah Khan (27) in the same over. 

Qasim Akram and Mubasir Khan showed some resilience and rebuilt the Pakistan innings with a fine partnership of 53 runs. Nishant Sindhu broke the partnership by trapping Mubasir (28) LBW. Akram missed on a well-deserved half-century and departed for 48. Mehran Mumtaz played a handy knock of 25* and helped Pakistan to reach a defendable total of 205. Suthar impressed with a three-wicket haul.

In reply, Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma gave India a fine start, adding 58 runs in 11 overs. Pakistan bowlers found it hard to get into the game as Sudharsan and Jose played attacking innings to score runs quickly. India-A skipper Yash Dhull hit an unbeaten 21 to take his side home.