IND-A Decimate PAK-A | An Analytcial Dive into the Match

image-lkbcrk99Sai Sudharshan played a brilliant knock to take India A home against Pakistan A (Source: Twitter)

The group stage of the ACC Men's Emerging Teams Asia Cup comes to an end with India A dominant victory over arch rivals Pakistan A by 8 wickets. Pakistan A never looked in control of the game as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and struggled to get runs on the board. At the halfway stage Pakistan A were 87-5 due to some great bowling spells from Hangargekar and Manav Suthar. The only positive in the Pakistan A innings was Qasim Akram who was the only batsman looking comfortable at the crease with a good 48 runs. 



In spite of that lone effort Pakistan A were still bundled out for just 205 in 48 overs with Hangargekar cleaning up the tail to get his second 5-fer in list A cricket ending with 5/42 in his 8 overs. India A looked comfortable throughout this chase where they were dominating each and every Pakistan A bowler and chased down the target in the 37th over on the back of a brilliant century by Sai Sudharshan winning the game by 8 wickets.

India A Outclasses Pakistan A in Innings Showdown

image-lkbbiraqOver-wise Runs Scored by Both Teams

Throughout this innings comparison the Pakistan A side looked nowhere close to the Indian innings at all. The first 10 overs of the game set the benchmark already with Rajvardhan Hangargekar just creating havoc in his opening spell with Pakistan being 40-2 at the end of the power play whereas the India A innings were cruising at 52-0. 

In the period between 10 to 20 overs was still disappointing for Pakistan where they were still struggling at 70-3 with their run rate being only 3.5 runs per over and India A had a massive 39 run difference over them at 109 with a loss of a solitary wicket. At the halfway stage it had gone from bad to worse for Pakistan A with their innings placed at 87-5 at the end of 25 overs as for India A the duo of Sudharshan and Jose were still going strong and were still 38 runs ahead of them at this stage at 125-1. 

At the end of 30 overs it was already clear to everyone who was the dominant team where Pakistan A were at 109-6 and India A at 156-1. With that 47 run difference India A were left to get 50 runs from the last 20 overs with a required rate of only 2.4 which the India A side achieved in just above six and a half overs. Overall this comparison shows us a one sided contest between the arch rivals.



Conclusion

In conclusion this was another great performance from India A where they excelled against Pakistan A in every department. Throughout the Pakistan A innings the India A bowlers bowled tight line and lengths which not only forced the batsmen to throw their wickets away but also restricted the flow of runs. All the Pakistan A batsmen except for Qasim Akram looked very rusty at the crease. 

On the other hand the India A batsmen did not only look comfortable but also looked like they had a well thought out plan from ball one. They capitalised on any lose ball and width that was given by the bowlers. Even through those occasional hiccups they seemed un bothered and concentrated on building big partnerships. Along with their batting it is important to bring up the Pakistan A bowling which was all over the place which allowed the India A batsmen to play their natural game and win.