India
hammered Sri Lanka by nine wickets in a rain-hit final of the U-19 Asia Cup in
Dubai to win the title for a record eighth time on Friday.

India were
always in command of the match as the pacer reduced Sri Lanka to 74 for 7 in 33
overs when heavy rain lashed the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and
stopped play for more than two hours.

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As rain
interrupted the match, it was finally reduced to a 38-over-a-side contest with Sri
Lanka limping to 106 for nine.

India were
given a revised 102-run target in 38 overs via the DLS method which they
reached rather comfortably in 21.3 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi
scoring an unbeaten 56 off 67 balls.

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India’s
only defeat in the competition came against arch-rivals Pakistan who lost to
Sri Lanka in the semifinals.

The
tournament provided valuable game time for the Yash Dhull-led side ahead of the
U-19 World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in the Caribbean from January
14.

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Ganguly,
Shah heap praise on Indian colts

On the
Indian colts’ magnificent win BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay
Shah congratulated the team.

“Congratulations
to the under 19 team for winning the Asia Cup ..No cricket for 15 months
since2020 for covid and to win is a commendable effort ..well dne to plyrs,
coaches, new slctrs who hd vry ltle time to pick the best players ..NCA
deserves a lot of credit,” Ganguly tweeted.

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Shah wrote,
“Congratulations to India U19 for their excellent performance in the
#U19AsiaCup and for winning the championship for the 8th time! This tournament
has been an ideal preparation ahead of the ICC U19 World Cup in West Indies
next month.” After the tournament’s leading scorer Harnoor Singh departed
cheaply in the chase, Raghuvanshi played sensibly alongside Shaik Rasheed (31
not out off 49) to get the job done.

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Pacers
Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar shine

Earlier,
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first under overcast situations which
made the conditions ideal for seam bowlers. The Indian pace duo of Rajvardhan
Hangargekar and Ravi Kumar made the ball talk though the former was a tad
unlucky to not get a wicket.

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Left-arm
pacer Ravi got the first wicket of the match by removing Chamindu
Wickramasinghe in the fourth over. The left-hander opener went for a big hook
shot over mid-wicket but ended up mistiming it straight into the hands of Raj
Bawa at third man.

Wickramasinghe’s
opening partner Shevon Daniel tried to pull Bawa but the ball got big on him,
taking a faint edge to wicketkeeper Aaradhya Yadav to leave Sri Lanka at 15 for
two in the 11th over.

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India
looked far superior team in the match. Hangargekar was the most impressive
pacer in the first 10 overs, generating a good pace that hurried the batters
besides extracting movement off the pitch.

The Sri
Lanka batters looked completely at sea against the Indian bowlers, be it fast
bowlers or the spin pairing of Kaushal Tambe (2/23) and Vicky Ostwal (3/11).
Both off-spinner Tambe and left-arm spinner Ostwal got the oddball to turn
sharply.

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Ostwal got
two in one to leave Sri Lanka in dire straits at 57 for seven. Southpaw Dunit
Wellagle attempted a slog sweep to break the shackles but ended up getting
caught in the deep.

Two balls
later Ranuda Somarathne missed Oswal’s arm ball on the back foot, trapping him
in front of the stumps. With India set to bowl out Sri Lanka for a sub-100
total, heavy rain stopped play. In the five overs Sri Lanka had, they managed
32 runs for the loss of two wickets.

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Hangargekar
got a much-deserved wicket on the last ball of the innings with Raghuvasnshi
taking a diving catch at the square leg boundary to dismiss Matheesha
Pathirana.