India vs Pakistan, U19 Asia Cup Final: IND beat PAK by 1 wicket in Al Amerat

Skipper Lakshya Rajesh Raichandani stabilised the innings at top with 80, but the main course was served by Manal Chauhan and Mohit Ulva, who pulled off a nail-biting game in which India was out. Earlier, Usman Khan's century helped Pakistan to post 337/9 from their 50 overs after Pakistan skipper Farhan Yousaf won the toss and opted to bat first against Lakshya Raichandani's India as the stage is set for another India vs Pakistan summit clash as the colts lock horns in the Under-19 Asia Cup final at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground today.

The finals pressure has been in a thorn in the flesh for the Indian side across formats for some time now. Even at the Under-19 level, India have dropped a few titles along the way, and that includes the previous two editions of the Asia Cup, including a defeat to Bangladesh in the final in 2024 and Pakistan last year.

Their most recent meeting in the group stages last week also reminded the Indian side that their arch-rivals are not to be underestimated. SCROLL DOWN FOR IND VS PAK UPDATES FROM THE U19 ASIA CUP FINAL Well, nobody could have seen this coming.

India has beaten Pakistan by one wicket in the end. Kudos to Mohit and Manal for the way they fought back when it did feel like it was all over. Well, this win will be in the memories of these players, especially the character they have shown today, which is quite remarkable.

Pakistan have only themselves to blame in this game. They had this game in their back pocket, but somehow they got caught daydreaming, and the Indians have pickpocketed it. Congratulations to the Indian team for winning this contest.

Spinner Shafiq has come into the attack here, and he has picked up Manal. It was a brave call from the skipper to turn to the spinner, and it probably added another twist to this game. Well, the nervy final continues with its share of twists and turns in this game.

Venkata is the new batter who is in. What a turnaround this has been from India. Manal, the aggressor, has played a blinder of an innings, and Mohit too has taken a leaf out of Manal's book and is tonking some hefty blows.

Well, India needed a knock like this throughout the chase; when Lakshya was batting, it did not come then, but it is coming now. One would wonder if it is too late or if India will pull out a miracle; we shall see. Well, there is a turnaround of momentum here.

Manal was batting well, but suddenly he went ballistic, and it seems like his knock is rubbing on Mohit as well, who is striking at 150 at the moment. Pakistan had this under control, but now they are suddenly looking a bit shaken by this brief counter-attack; it is still their game to lose unless they get nervy and make execution errors with the ball.

Pakistan has played very well here today, right from the start. With the bat, they have got everything right, and with the ball too, they have got their plans spot on; in addition to that, on the field they went that extra mile to take those catches.

These are the kind of fielding performances that lift the bowlers and deflate the batters; all in all, it is almost a perfect performance from them. Rizwanullah has picked up Aryan here. The batter tried to cut the ball, and he ended up giving away a point on the boundary.

There is not a lot the batters can do here in the middle; there is too much to do, and the ball has gotten soft, and the run rate is going up at an exponential rate. As we update, Kavya Patel has fallen here. The bowling performance from Pakistan has been pretty impressive right from the get-go.

They have not pitched the ball up but have hit the hard lengths through those initial overs, which did not let the Indian batters run away with the chase. The Indian bowlers did not make an error trying to look for swing in the initial overs, but made an error when they did not adapt and persisted with that length in the first innings; by the time they changed it, it was too late.

Disastrous 10 minutes for India: first, they lost set batter Lakshya, who chipped one straight to the mid-wicket fielder, who took a lovely catch, and then it was Anvay Dravid on the following delivery, who ran himself out.

Well, the game might technically not be over yet, but it is very hard to see how Pakistan will lose this game from here on. Anvay has started well here. It's not just him but the Indian batters; rather than trying to go for the big shots, which are sixes, if they can find boundaries through the square and also look for fours more than sixes, that would be a safer option against the softer ball.

This is when a batter who can play sweeps, reverse-sweeps and scoops can be lovely to have in the middle. As we update Lakshya has picked up Raza. Yashbardhan has fallen here, and it is Usman Khan who has picked up the wicket.

The batter pushed the ball through the covers and got caught by the cover fielder. Anvay Dravid has walked into the middle. India were first behind, with the scoring rate now. The wickets are tumbling pretty quickly here for the hosts.

Arjun Rajput has fallen here, and it is Rizwanullah who got the wicket. It was a short, wide delivery which the batter tried to cut and got an outside edge to the keeper. That is a massive wicket for the Pakistan bowlers, as every wicket they manage to pick up from the other end will add more pressure skipper Lakshya at the other end.

India needs 171 runs from 120 deliveries, which is manageable in a T20 game, but in this format the ball is different after 34 overs, and as it gets softer, it will become hard for the batters to get those boundaries. They will need Lakshya to stay till the 45th over and Arjun to go after the bowling here post the break.

India are about 50 runs behind Pakistan in this chase, and Arjun has walked into the middle, having scored a sublime century the last time these two sides met. That day it was crisis management of a different kind; today he will have the pressure of the run rate.

India needs a 60-ball 80 cameo of sorts to get something out...