Pakistan thrash India to become U-19 Asia Cup champions

Samir Minhas' record-breaking batting display helped Pakistan thrash arch-rivals India to win the U-19 Asia Cup. They created history by defeating India by a huge margin of 191 runs in the final.

After losing the toss and electing to bat first in the final match held in Dubai, Pakistan scored 347 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. This is the highest team total in the history of the U-19 Asia Cup final. Earlier, India had the record of 314 runs in the final.

Despite losing the first wicket for just 31 runs at the beginning of the innings, opener Samir Minhas managed the team by forming a partnership with Usman Khan. He then took control of the match by putting on a big partnership of 137 runs with Ahmed Hossain. Although Ahmed Hossain was dismissed for 56 runs, Minhas did not stop.

The 13-year-old opener played a mammoth innings of 172 runs off 113 balls, hitting 17 fours and 9 sixes. Earlier, he completed his century off just 71 balls, hitting 12 fours and 4 sixes. In the end, Pakistan's total stood at 347 runs with effective batting from Nikab Shafiq and Mohammad Sayem. For India, Dipesh Devendran took 3 wickets and Henil Patel took 2 wickets.

Chasing a target of 348 runs to win, the Indian batting lineup could not stand up to the pace of Pakistani pacer Ali Raza from the beginning. They started losing wickets at regular intervals from the third over of the innings. In the end, India was bowled out for 156 runs in just 26.2 overs.

Bowler Dipesh Devendra scored the highest score of 36 runs for India. For Pakistan, Ali Raza took 4 wickets for 42 runs. Besides, Mohammad Sayem, Subhan and Huzaifa took two wickets each.

With this victory, Pakistan proved their superiority in the Under-19 Asia Cup and won another memorable title.