India on Thursday enjoyed a romp before the Asia Cup final in accounting for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by nine wickets.
The bowlers paved the way to the easy victory, restricting UAE to 81-9 in 20 overs.
India took 10.1 overs to win with 82-1 and seal their fourth straight victory in the tournament. India are to meet hosts Bangladesh in the final tomorrow.
Opener Rohit Sharma hit 39, while Yuvraj Singh was 25 not out and hit the winning boundary.
Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the way for India with 2-8.
Shaiman Anwar scored 43 after UAE captain Amjad Javed elected to bat first. Opener Rohan Mustafa, on 11, was the only other batsman to reach double digits.
Kumar was backed by Jasprit Bumrah, pacer Hardik Pandya and spin trio Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh, who all picked up one wicket.
Kumar delivered two straight maiden overs and reaped rewards for creating pressure, which resulted in the wicket of opener Swapnil Patil for a duck.
Bumrah also claimed Mohammad Shahzad for a duck and UAE were 2-2.
India bowlers then made regular breakthroughs amid the resistance of Anwar, who hit three fours and one six in his 48-ball knock.
Sharma took care of the chase with his aggressive batting. He smashed seven fours and a six in 28 balls, and was the only wicket to fall, taken by Qadeer Ahmed.
Out-of-form opener Shikhar Dhawan struggled again, while Yuvraj Singh, promoted to No. 3 ahead of Virat Kohli, continued to batter the bowlers. He hit one six and four fours, the last of which confirmed India’s victory with 59 balls to spare.
Before the game, all in attendance observed a minute of silence in honor of New Zealand great Martin Crowe, who died of cancer earlier in the day. Crowe’s elder brother, Jeff Crowe, was the match referee.
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