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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Pakistan qualified to meet Sri Lanka in the final of the Videocon Asian Emerging Teams tournament at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, after India settled for a morale victory in the final round robin match played at the Saravanamuttu Stadium yesterday.

India won the contest by five wickets to make amends for their loss in the first round to Pakistan by 37 runs.

In a reduced 37-overs a side game because of morning rain, India were required to score 178 runs for victory in 28 overs which would have not only have brought them a win but also a bonus point as well as improve their nett run rate above Pakistan's.

But the task proved beyond them and by the end of the 28th over India were still 39 runs shy of the required target.

To maintain an asking rate of 6.35 runs an over was a tall order and although India started off well with openers Gautam Gambhir and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan putting on 52 off 44 balls.

But once Pakistan captain Qaiser Abbas had got rid of both openers within two overs of each other with his slow left-arm orthodox spin, the required run rate dropped drastically.

India failed to hit a boundary for 13 overs after the 13th over as Pakistan kept a tight grip on the game with accurate bowling and sharp fielding.

Indian coach Lalchand Rajput said that his team decided to go for a win rather than for a bonus point, between the 20th and 25th overs when they had lost half the side for 96 runs.

"It was disappointing not to be in the final because we had a very good team," said Rajput.

"It was our batting that failed us. The batsmen were unable to adjust to the bounce and movement in the early matches and our two losses at the beginning made it difficult for us although we made a brave attempt to get there yesterday," he said. "It was good to see (Vinayak) Mane come good in this game, but overall it was our batting that was disappointing. The bowlers did a splendid job," Rajput said.

Mane, a right-hand batsman from Mumbai hit an unbeaten 50 off 72 balls with one four to steer India to victory in the 34th over.

With Laxmi Shukla contributing an undefeated 39 off 51 balls (3 fours), the pair carried India to victory with an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 82 off 91 balls.

Pakistan put into bat first by India, lost their first five wickets for 58 runs before one-drop batsman Shahid Yousaf came to their rescue. Yousaf played the anchor role to shore up the batting till the 35th over. The Pakistan total was built around Yousaf's well-paced out innings. He made 60 off 76 balls with five fours and received excellent support from the lower order. The last five wickets contributed 119 runs off 99 balls as the Indian fielding wilted under pressure.

Mansoor Amjad provided the spark from the tail scoring an undefeated run-a-ball unbeaten 27 with one four while last man Fahad Masood ended the innings with a flourish hitting the final ball for a six as Pakistan went past the 175-run mark. It was a total they didn't look like achieving when man-of-the match Aavishkar Salvi ran through their top order taking four wickets for 16 runs off eight overs, reducing them to 41-4 in the 11th over.

Salvi was helped to a great extent by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik who scalped five batsmen (all caught).

"We didn't do the simple things right and our fast bowlers were disappointing," said Pakistan coach Naveed Anjum.

"We batted well to get to a total of 177, but our bowlers were not upto the mark. We have some homework to do before the final," he said.

Lanka favourites

Indian coach Rajput said that Sri Lanka were the favourites to win the final on Sunday against Pakistan. "Sri Lanka have a very good batting and bowling line up and I can't see them losing this one. But the team that plays well on the day will win," said Rajput. Pakistan coach Anjum said that both teams were on equal terms and that he was confident his team can pull it off. "We have an equal chance of winning as Sri Lanka," said Anjum. Sri Lanka came through the qualifying stage unbeaten and finished on top of the league with 18 points. Pakistan finished with nine points and India eight. All three teams played four matches apiece.

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