Afghanistan A will face Sri Lanka A on Sunday evening, October 27, in the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 final at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman.
This comes after Afghanistan A defeated India A by 20 runs in the second semi-final of the championships on Friday.
On Sunday morning, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) wished the team well and said in a post on X: “#AfghanAbdalyan are set to play their first-ever ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup Grand Finale as they take on Sri Lanka A in an epic showdown tonight.
“Go well and bring it home, Abdalyano!,” the board said.
Friday’s thrilling victory over India A has set the stage for what will no doubt be an exciting showdown on Sunday.
Powered by an impressive 83 off 52 balls from Sediqullah Atal, Afghanistan A posted a formidable total of 206/4 against India A.
Zubaid Akbari (64 off 41) and Karim Janat (41 off 20) added further firepower, setting a challenging target for India A.
India A’s chase began with promise but stumbled as Afghanistan’s bowlers held their nerve.
Ramandeep Singh top-scored with a rapid 64 off 34 balls, keeping India in the hunt until the final overs.
Ayush Badoni (31 off 24) and Nishant Sindhu (23 off 13) provided valuable contributions, but Afghanistan A’s disciplined bowling, especially from AM Ghazanfar (2/14) and Abdul Rahman (2/32), restricted India A to 186/7 in 20 overs.
Afghanistan A has meanwhile had a number of standout players, including Sediqullah Atal who has posted a whopping 313 runs in this tournament.
Standing at number 1 for the most runs, fellow player Zubairullah Akbari is at number 3 with his total of 137 runs. Second on the board is Babar Hayat from Hong Kong with 162 runs.
Sunday’s match will get underway at 6pm local time.