The Indian U19 cricket team celebrates after the fall of an Afghanistan batter.© BCCI
Arshin Kulkarni starred with both bat and ball to enable India prevail over Afghanistan by seven wickets in their Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Asia Cup match in Dubai on Friday. India skipper Uday Saharan opted to field as the three-pronged seam attack of Arshin Kulkarni (3/29), Raj Limbani (3/46) and left-arm quick Naman Tiwary (2/30) grabbed eight wickets between them to dismiss Afghanistan for 173.
Indian spin duo of Murugan Abhishek and Musheer Khan bagged one wicket each.
Opener Jamshid Zadran top-scored for Afghanistan with a steady 43 off 75 deliveries that included four boundaries.
He shared a 49-run second-wicket partnership with Sohil Khan (12).
In reply, India lost two quick wickets for 10 runs to be reduced to 32/2 inside eight overs.
But Kulkarni held fort and steered the side home with a responsible 105-ball 70 (4x4s).
The opener first shared a 44-run third-wicket stand with skipper Saharan (20; 49 balls) and then put together an unbroken 98-run fourth wicket partnership with Musheer Khan (48; 53b, 3x4s).
Brief Scores: Afghanistan U-19: 173 all out in 50 overs (Jamshid Zardan 43; Arshin Kulkarni 3/29, Raj Limbani 3/46) lost to India U-19: 174 for 3 in 37.3 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 70, Musheer Khan 48) by seven wickets.