Vihan Malhotra- Aaron George (PC: ACC X)
India has advanced to the final of the ACC Men's Under-19 Asia Cup-2025 tournament. They defeated Sri Lanka in the semi-final and qualified for the title fight. In this intercontinental tournament, the Indian team under the captaincy of Ayush Matre defeated UAE, Pakistan and Malaysia as part of Group-A and reached the semi-finals undefeated. In this sequence, they faced Sri Lanka in the first semi-final on Friday.
Due to rain in Dubai, the toss was delayed. At last, Varuna took pity.. Due to the swampy outfield, this youth ODI was shortened to 20 overs. India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Sri Lanka went into bat. The Indian bowlers scored 138 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.
Lanka openers Viran Chamudita (19) and Dulnith Sigera (1) failed... Captain Vimat Dinsara (32) who came in one down was not good. Among the rest, Chamika Hinathigala was the top run scorer for Lanka with 42 runs. Sethmika Seneviratne excelled with 30 runs in the lower order. Among the rest, Kavija Gamage (2), Kitma Withanapathirana (7), and Adam Hilmi (1) were limited to single digit scores.
Among the Indian bowlers, Henil Patel and Kanishk Chauhan took two wickets each.. Dipesh Devendran, Kishan Kumar and Khilan Patel took one wicket each. India, who came into the ring with a nominal target, got a shock from the very beginning. Among the openers, captain Ayush Sharma (7) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (9) failed miserably. Rasit Nimsara sent them both to the pavilion.
However, one-down batter Aaron George and Vihaan Malhotra struck Dhanadhan. Both hit half-centuries. Aaron scored 58 runs with 4 fours and one six in 49 balls. Vihan remained unbeaten with 61 runs in 45 balls with the help of 4 fours and two sixes. India scored 139 runs with the loss of only two wickets in 18 overs due to the amazing performance of both of them. As a result, they won by eight wickets and advanced to the final. Aaron and Vihan shared the 'Player of the Match' award.
Under-19 Asia Cup-2025 Semi Final-1 Scores
👉Toss: India.. bowling first
👉Late toss due to rain.. Match reduced to 20 overs due to wetfield
👉Sri Lanka Score: 138/8 (20)
👉India: 139/2 (18)
👉Result: India win by eight wickets in the final
