Singapore: Captain Hammad Azam led from the front to help Pakistan U23 overcome Sri Lanka U23 in a thrilling one-wicket win in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup semi-final in Singapore, confirming a place in the final against India U23 tomorrow.
Hammad scored an unbeaten half-century to take his side from tatters as they achieved the 231-run target.
The run-chase was shaky right from the beginning with in-form opening batsman Babar Azam getting out on a golden duck. None of the other top-order batsmen succeeded in earning a major contribution with Azeem Gumman (22) and Usman Salahuddin (31) being the top scorers from the lot.
Pakistan were struggling at 129 for seven in the 32nd over before the captain began the rescue mission. He played aggressively, scoring 66 off 69, aided with two boundaries and three sixes, to steer Pakistan to the target in the penultimate over with Sri Lanka U23 just a wicket away from victory.
Hammad’s efforts could not have yielded the desirable result without a valuable knock by Bilalwal Bhatti, who chipped in with 25 runs while batting at ninth position.
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