Middle-order batter Ayush Badoni slammed a half-century to help India A beat Oman and seal a place in the semifinals of the ACC T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 in Al Amarat, near here on Wednesday.
India A maintained their unbeaten streak in the event with a clinical six-wicket victory over hosts Oman in the final Group B match. With this win India A finished on top of Group B with six points and set up a date with Afghanistan in the semifinals on Friday. Pakistan, on four points, also qualified as Group B runners-up and will take on Sri Lanka A in the other semifinal.
Electing to bat first, Oman put up a modest 140/5 in their 20 overs. In reply, India chased down the target in 15.2 overs thanks to an 85-run partnership between skipper Tilak Varma (36 off 30) and Badoni (51 off 27).
The hosts started well against India and were moving at a rate of over eight runs in the first four overs. India’s Aaqib Khan, Nishant Sindhu and Ramandeep Singh picked up the wickets in the Powerplay to reduce Oman’s scoring rate and keep them to 46/3 in six overs. Mohammad Nadeem and Wasim Ali raised a 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket but the stand came at the expense of the scoring rate, taking 60 balls. Wasim Ali was out leg before wicket to Sai Kishore in the 15th over with Oman at 80/4. Hammad Mirza’s 28 off 15 added much-need impetus as Oman eventually ended on 140/5 in their 20 overs.
Tilak Varma once used eight bowlers in the 20 overs. Aaqib Khan, Rasikh Salam, Nishant Sindhu, Ramandeep Singh and Sai Kishore picked up a wicket each.
In the chase of 141, Anuj Rawat (8 off 11) lost his wicket early but Abhishek Sharma’s 34 off 15 got India off to a flyer. Abhishek Sharma’s brief innings included five fours and a maximum and helped India reach 44/2 in five overs. Captain Tilak Varma and Ayush Badoni began their 85-run partnership at a steady pace. India A’s score was 80/2 in nine overs with the team still needing 61 runs from 66 balls. However, Badoni targeted the 10th over by Samay Shrivastav and hit him for 4,4,6,6,4 on the first five balls to bring the required rate down to less than four runs in the last 10 overs.
Badoni brought up his fifty in the 13th over. Though he lost his wicket soon after, Tilak Varma and Co. ensured India A strolled to victory with ample balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Oman 140/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Nadeem 41; Sai Kishore 1/21) lost to India A 146/4 in 15.2 overs (Ayush Badoni 51, Tilak Varma 36; Sufyan Mehmood 1/22) by six wickets.
