ACC Men's Emerging Cup: Bowlers, Openers Help India A To 9-Wicket Win Against Nepal

Openers Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma struck half-centuries after Nishant Sindhu (4-14) and Rajvardhan Hangargekar (3-25) starred with the ball as India A thrashed Nepal by nine wickets in ACC Men's Emerging Cup on Monday.

Sai Sudharsan struck an unbeaten 58 off 52 deliveries, hitting eight fours and one six, while Abhishek Sharma blasted a 69-ball 87, hitting 12 fours and two sixes as India A raced to 172/1 in 22.1 overs after bundling out Nepal for 167 in 39.2 overs in the 50-overs-a-side match.

It was right-handed pacer, Harshit Rana who struck the first blow for India when he sent back Kushal Bhurtel off the second delivery of the match, trapping him lbw. Aasif Shaikh too departed soon, edging back to Dhruv Jurel off Hangargekar for seven off 15 balls as Nepal slumped to 27/2 in the sixth over.

Dev Khanal (15) soon joined them,  in the pavilion as Nepal were reduced to 30/3 in the 8th over. Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel waged a lone battle, scoring 65 off 85 deliveries as Nepal continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and were all out for 167.

Hangargekar (6-1-25-3) and Nishant Sindhu (3.2-0-14-4) took over after that as they shared seven wickets among themselves to help India bundle out Nepal for a paltry score.

In reply, Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma gave India A, a brilliant start as they raised 139 runs for the opening wicket. Sai struck eight fours during his innings as he raced to 58 off 52 deliveries. Abhishek Sharma was the more aggressive of the two as he blazed to 87 off 69 deliveries. He struck 12 boundaries and two sixes to help India A romp to victory in the match.

Brief scores:

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Nepal 167 all out in 39.2 overs (Rohit Paudel 65, Gulsan Jha 38; Nishant Sindhu 4-14, Rajvardhan Hangargekar 3-25) lost to India A 172/1 in 22.1 overs (Sai Sudharsan 58 not out, Abhishek Sharma 87; Rohit Paudel 1-25) by nine wickets.