Sandeep Warrier claimed three wickets and opener Unmukt Chand scored a half-century as India Under-23 defeated Pakistan Under-23 by three wickets in a limited overs Group 'A' match of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup on Sunday.
Chasing a modest target of 192 runs, India Under-23 got off to a fine start with Under-19 World Cup winning skipper Chand (61) and Lokesh Rahul (46) providing the team a solid platform.
Although the middle-order batsmen struggled, India reached home with 13 balls to spare.
India Under-23 skipper Suryakumar Yadav also made a useful contribution with 23 runs after Pakistan's left-arm spinner Raza Hasan picked up three wickets to take the contest to the closing stages.
Opting to field, the Indian pace duo of Sandeep Sharma and Warrier proved their captain's decision right by exposing Pakistan's batting line-up.
Both demonstrated an incisive spell of fast bowling to slice through the opposition top-order line-up, reducing Pakistan to 22 for three inside 10 overs.
Openers Babar Azam (2) and Azeem Ghumman (3) departed in quick succession, while Bilawal Bhatti (7) made his way back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers much.
It was then left to Umar Waheed (46) and Usman Salahuddin (61) to steady the rapidly sinking ship and provide some stability to the innings.
The pair added 85 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team's total past 100-run mark before left-arm spinner Akshar Patel broke the stand by scalping Waheed.
Man of the Match Warrier finished with brilliant figures of three for 32 from his nine overs. Sharma chipped in with two wickets for 39.
From 106 for two, the Indian side was suddenly struggling at 160 for six with Chand, Yadav, Ankit Bawne (5) and Patel (6) all back to the pavilion.
With the match turning into an exciting contest with both sides looking to start their campaign with a win, Baba Aparajith (13 not out) and Ashok Menaria (18) combined well and raised a crucial 31-run partnership for the seventh wicket to take their side home.
For Pakistan, apart from Hasan (3 for 39), Nawaz claimed two wickets.
Brief scores: India U23 192/7 in 47.5 overs (KL Rahul 46, Unmukt Chand 61; Raza Hasan 3-39) beat Pakistan U23 191/7 in 50 overs (Umar Waheed 46, Usman Salahuddin 61; Sandeep Warrier 3-32, Sandeep Sharma 2-39) by three wickets.
