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Badoni stars in easy India A victory over Oman, set up Afghanistan semi-final date
Lucknow Super Giants youngster Ayush Badoni showed his wide repertoire of strokes as India cantered to a six-wicket victory over Oman to set-up a semi-final date with Afghanistan A in the ACC Emerging Asia Cup Muscat on Wednesday.
Badoni smashed 51 off 27 balls as India A reached the target of 141 in just 15.2 overs to finish their group B league engagements with an all-win record.
The talented Delhi right-hander's footwork against spinners was impressive as he danced down the track to loft a spinner over extra-cover for a six apart from executing the reverse slog sweep to perfection.
He also back-cut one of the Omani pacers behind square. In all, he hit six fours and two sixes and was dismissed when India were just a few runs short of victory target.
Senior T20 team opener Abhishek Sharma blasted 34 off just 15 balls to start the chase in earnest while skipper Tilak Varma (36 not out off 30 balls) dropped anchor at one end letting Badoni hog the limelight.
Earlier, Varma used as many as eight bowlers against the senior Oman team with five of them getting a wicket apiece.
The key were left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (1/21 in 4 overs) and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (0/20 in 4 overs) who cumulatively gave away just 41 runs in their eight overs during the middle phase.
Brief Scores: Oman 140/5 (Mohammed Nadeem 41, R Sai Kishore 1/21). India A 146/4 in 15.2 overs (Ayush Badoni 51 off 27 balls). India A won by 6 wickets.