Dubai, Dec 21: Pakistan opener Sameer Minhas once again gave a glimpse into his precocious talent, striking a brilliant century — his second in the tournament — as Pakistan made a steep 347 for 8 in an engrossing 50-over men’s U19 Asia Cup final here on Sunday.
Minhas, one of the standout performers for his side in the event, blazed to 172 off 113 deliveries as he carried the aspirations of his side, which lost the group match to the arch-foes by 90 runs at the same venue.
Pakistan, coming into the final on the back of a clinical eight-wicket semifinal win against last edition champions Bangladesh, did not let India, who chose to bowl, settle down.
Minhas, the younger brother of Pakistan T20 player Arafat Minhas, who had played a pivotal role with an unbeaten half-century in the semifinal on Friday, went after every bowler but was especially harsh on new-ball bowlers Kishan Singh and Deepesh Devendran.
Minhas, whose innings was studded with 17 boundaries and nine sixes, brought up his century off 71 balls with a four in the 29th over off Devendran.
This was Minhas’ second hundred in the competition having cracked an unbeaten 177 against Malaysia in the opening group match.
The 19-year-old looked set for a double century and join the likes of India’s Abhigyan Kundu and South Africa’s Jorich Van Schalkwyk in the elite 200-plus club.
But he was tricked by a slower delivery from Devendran (3/83) to be caught at mid-on, as the India pacer savoured his first wicket in the match after being plundered by the prolific opener.
Minhas’ big six in the 28th over, where he used his feet to launch an Ayush Mhatre delivery high up in the air to deep mid-wicket, had class written all over.
It was smooth sailing for Pakistan after Hamza Zahoor (18) departed early when he ended up giving the simplest of catches at mid-off, falling prey to a teasing off-stump line.
Zahoor’s dismissal brought in Usman Khan (35) and, together with Minhas, took the total to 123 — a partnership that yielded 92 runs.
Left-handed Ahmed Hussain, who too has enjoyed a rich vein of form in the tournament scoring a century and half-ton, struck a fine 56 before left-arm spinner Khilan Patel (2/44) enticed the middle-order batter to play the sweep and gave a catch at mid-wicket.
His 137-run partnership with Minhas provided the deck for Pakistan to go for a big total.
India have won the title a record eight times since the tournament’s inception in 1989. They were joint winners with Pakistan in the 2012 edition when the match ended in a tie.
Pakistan have lifted the trophy only once, when they were joint winners with the arch-rivals in Malaysia. (PTI)
