Raichandani made 93 after three quiet games, and India’s Under-19s play Pakistan again in the Asia Cup final

India’s Under-19 captain went into Thursday’s semi-final with scores of 53 not out, 0 and 17. Lakshya Raichandani made 93 off 90 balls against Afghanistan at Al Amerat, and India chased 228 with 79 balls to spare to win by eight wickets.

They play Pakistan in Saturday’s final, a repeat of the group game on 8 November that Pakistan won by three wickets. The final starts at 10:30am IST.

An opening stand of 117

Afghanistan chose to bat, and India’s openers had taken most of the work out of the chase by the first drinks break. Raichandani reached his fifty off 39 balls with nine fours, and India were 63 without loss after the ten-over powerplay.

Aaryavir Sehwag was the quieter partner for once. He needed 56 balls for his fifty and hit four sixes before Noor Ali Niazai had him caught by Faridullah Ihsas for 51 in the 17th over, with 117 on the board. That was Niazai’s only wicket. He came into the game with 13 wickets for 71 runs in the tournament, and India took 58 off his 7.5 overs.

Raichandani added 77 with VK Vineeth and fell seven short of a hundred, caught by Mohammad Ali Barakzai off Sohail Khan in the 32nd over. He hit 13 fours and a six. Vineeth was 57 not out off 62 balls at the end, with Yashbardhan Chauhan on 16.

Three wickets for three runs

Afghanistan had won their three group games by 113 runs, ten wickets and 106 runs, but India’s bowlers kept them quiet. They were 86 for 3 in the 20th over. Noman Salarzai, their wicketkeeper, made 51 off 78 balls and put on 57 with Shah Faisal Rahimi for the fourth wicket.

Then Afghanistan lost three wickets for three runs. Arjun Rajput had Salarzai caught by Yashbardhan Chauhan at the end of the 36th over, and Aryan Savsani took two in the next, bowling Tahir Sarwary after Raichandani had caught Amir Hamza for a first-ball duck.

Rahimi (51 off 72) and the captain Sohail Khan (36 not out off 44) added 60 for the seventh wicket to get them to 227 for 8. Ishan Sood took 3 for 43, Rahimi among them, and Manal Chauhan’s eight overs went for 31.

Pakistan needed 21.5 overs

Pakistan reached the final the easy way. Rizwanullah took 5 for 30 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 138 in 31.4 overs, and openers Hayam Khan (69) and Usman Khan (64 not out) put on 123 before Pakistan won by nine wickets with 169 balls left.

Pakistan have won all four of their games. India’s only defeat came against them, when they were 22 for 3 and needed Arjun Rajput’s 107 to reach 208, and Pakistan got home with three wickets and 11 balls to spare. Pakistan also won last year’s final in Dubai by 191 runs.

Sehwag now has 303 runs in four innings, 160 of them against the UAE, and India have leaned on him all tournament. Raichandani had made 70 runs in his first three games. On Thursday the captain finally got the big score himself, two days before the one game India most want to win.

Follow India’s Under-19s into the final