The 2024 edition of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup got underway on October 18. Here are the standout performances from the first round of fixtures.
Group A
In the tournament opener, Hong Kong took on Bangladesh A. After being put in to bat, they had an iffy Powerplay, reaching 35-2. Captain Nizakat Khan put on 65 for the third wicket with Babar Hayat, but after he was dismissed, Hayat swiftly ran out of partners. He was eventually the eighth wicket to fall, for 85. Medium pacer Ripon Mondol finished with four wickets.
Chasing 151, Bangladesh A were meandering along, getting to 64-3 by the halfway stage. They needed skipper Akbar Ali to give them a boost through the middle, and he hit 45 off 24 balls, lifting them to 129-5 midway through the 16th over. Shamim Hossain and Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby then saw their side over the line with ten balls to spare.
Result: Hong Kong 150-8 in 20 overs (Babar Hayat 85, Ripon Mondal 4-24) LOST to Bangladesh A 151-5 in 18.2 overs (Akbar Ali 45, Ehsan Khan 3-12).
Read more: Lowest successfully defended totals in men's Test history
In the second match on Friday, Afghanistan A openers Zubaid Akbari (57) and Sediqullah Atal (83) laid the foundation for a solid score, putting on 142 for the first wicket. But once Atal fell, it triggered a collapse to 152-4. Afghanistan A eventually scored only 24 runs off their last 25 balls as Dushan Hemantha took six wickets, and was involved in the run out of Akbari.
Sri Lanka A started brightly, with Yashodha Lanka and captain Nuwanidu Fernando putting on 50 for the second wicket. But despite Fernando eventually scoring a half-century, there was little support from the others. Ahan Wickramasinghe briefly sparked hopes of a chase with 31 off 18 balls, but he was dismissed off the final ball of the 18th over as the innings eventually folded for 155.
Result: Afghanistan A 166-7 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 83, Dushan Hemantha 6-23) BEAT Sri Lanka A 155 in 19.3 overs (Nuwanidu Fernando 51, Faridoon Dawoodzai 3-40).
Also read: How many wins do South Africa need to make the WTC final?
Group B
There was another solid opening stand, for Oman against UAE, as Jatinder Singh and Aamir Kaleem put on 86. But once again, the middle order failed to capitalise on their good work, limping to 150-8 as Muhammad Farooq and Muhammad Jawadullah took three wickets each.
UAE looked on course to complete a relatively simple chase, before a mini-slide in the middle overs left them at 66-4 in 9.1 overs. But wicketkeeper Syed Haider remained not out until the end, scoring 44 off 28 balls to take UAE over the line in the final over.
Result: Oman 150-8 in 20 overs (Jatinder Singh 54, Muhammad Farooq 3-21) LOST to United Arab Emirates 151-6 in 19.1 overs (Syed Haider 44*, Aamir Kaleem 2-18).
In the highly-anticipated final clash of the first round of fixtures, India A elected to bat first against Pakistan Shaheens, and openers Prabhsimran Singh and Abhishek Sharma got them off to a flyer with 68 runs in the Powerplay. But thereafter, as the middle overs proved difficult to negotiate, they were dependent on captain Tilak Varma's anchoring effort of 44 to get to 183-8.
After Pakistan Shaheens skipper Mohammad Haris hit the first ball of the chase for six, he was immediately knocked over by Anshul Kamboj. Kamboj struck again in the third over, but Yasir Khan ensured the scoring rate did not suffer, helping his side to 57-2 in the Powerplay. He perished in the ninth over to an outrageous catch from Ramandeep Singh. Arafat Minhas (41) and Abdul Samad (25) then kept Pakistan Shaheens in the contest throughout, but some tight death bowling from Kamboj and Rasikh Salam helped India A pull off a seven-run win.
Result: India A 183-8 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 44, Sufiyan Muqeem 2-28) BEAT Pakistan Shaheens 176-7 in 20 overs (Arafat Minhas 41, Anshul Kamboj 3-33).
Image credit: Hotstar
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
