By IANS
Chennai : Asia XI lifted the second Afro-Asia Cup with one match to spare after they defeated Africa XI by 31 runs in the second one-day international at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here Saturday.
Chasing a mammoth 338 runs to square the series, Africans folded their innings in 306 in 49.5 overs.
Earlier, Asia XI captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat and Virender Sehwag (52) laid the foundation with a typically belligerent half-century, allowing Sourav Ganguly (88) and Mohammad Yousuf (51) to propel the side to their second successive 300-plus score in the tournament.
For the Africans, it was always a tough job chasing 338 to square the series as they lost three wickets for 152 half way. But it was Boetta Dippenaar (67) and Mark Boucher (73) who resurrected the African innings and brought them near sniffing distance of a win.
The Africans were always careful right from the first ball and the batsmen were constantly on the lookout for singles and twos. The occasional over-pitched deliveries were put away, with Mohammed Asif leaking a few in his first spell.
But the Pakistani bowler got his reward when opener Abraham de Villiers tried to cut him and Mahendra Singh Dhoni flinging himself and took the outside edge brilliantly.
Dippenaar, ignored by the South African selectors in the one-day squad, didn't waste any time and to get off the mark and crisply drove the first ball he faced.
Dilhara Fernando, brought in to the side in place of Mashrafe Mortaza to lend more variation to the attack did well by picking up four wickets for just 36 runs and was awarded the Man of the Match.
Africa XI captain Justin Kemp, who promoted himself up the order, lasted just two deliveries and was bowled by Fernando.
Earlier in the day, the African bowlers were off target and gave the Asian batsmen ample space to free their arms on a featherbed of a pitch. Sehwag and Sanath Jayasuriya got the side off to a rollicking start. Sehwag merely had to hit through the line and bisect the gaps on the off-side. Sehwag was finally deceived by a slower one from Elton Chigumbura and forced into lobbing a catch to deep mid-on.
SCOREBOARD:
Match No.2, Asia XI vs. Africa XI, Afro-Asia Cup (day-night), M.A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, June 9
Asia XI:
Virender Sehwag c Morne b Chigumbura 52
Sanath Jayasuriya c Dippenaar b Odoyo 11
Sourav Ganguly c sub (Ongondo) b Chigumbura 88
Mahendra Singh Dhoni b Albie 33
Mahela Jayawardene run out 45
Mohammed Yousuf c Boucher b Morne 51
Yuvraj Singh not out 30
Mohammed Rafique c de Villiers b Morne 1
Zaheer Khan not out 0
Extras: (lb 8, w 14, nb 4) 26
Total: (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 337
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Jayasuriya, 4.5 overs), 2-77 (Sehwag, 11.3), 3-134 (Dhoni, 23.3), 4-214 (Jayawardene, 35.2), 5-298 (Ganguly, 46.1), 6-331 (Yousuf, 49.1), 7-333 (Mohammad Rafique, 49.5)
Bowling:
Albie Morkel 6-0-49-1 (1nb, 3w)
Morne Morkel 10-1-48-2 (1nb, 1w)
Thomas Odoyo 8-0-60-1 (3w)
Elton Chigumbura 10-0-84-2 (1nb, 1w)
Johan Botha 10-1-51-0 (1nb, 3w)
Vusi Sibanda 6-1-37-0 (3w)
Africa XI:
Abraham de Villiers c Dhoni b Asif 13
Vusi Sibanda c Dhoni b Fernando 35
Boeta Dippenaar c sub (Harbhajan) b Yuvraj 67
Justin Kemp b Fernando 0
Mark Boucher c Asif b Fernando 73
Shaun Pollock c Asif b Sehwag 35
Albie Morkel c Ganguly b Rafique 13
Elton Chigumbura c sub (Harbhajan) b Rafique 7
Johan Botha b Fernando 13
Thomas Odoyo not out 12
Morne Morkel b Asif 25
Extras: (lb 4, w 8, nb 1) 13
Total: (all out in 49.5 overs) 306
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (de Villiers, 2.2), 2-80 (Sibanda, 12.4), 3-80 (Kemp, 12.6), 4-159 (Dippenaar, 26.6), 5-217 (Boucher, 36.2), 6-234 (Pollock, 40.2), 7-247 (Chigumbura, 41.5), 8-263 (Albie, 43.5), 9-263 (Botha, 44.1), 10-306 (Morne, 49.5)
Bowling:
Mohammed Asif 9.5-0-82-2 (1nb, 1w)
Zaheer Khan 2.4-0-9-0
Mahela Jayawardene 2.2-0-19-0 (3w)
Dilhara Fernando 10-0-36-4 (1w)
Mohammed Rafique 10-0-62-2 (1w)
Yuvraj Singh 7-0-43-1
Sourav Ganguly 3-0-14-0
Virender Sehwag 5-0-37-1
Result: Asia XI win by 31 runs, win Afro-Asia Cup
Man of the match: Dilhara Fernando (Asia XI)
Umpires: Anthony Hill (New Zealand) and Peter Parker (Australia)
TV umpire: Suresh Shastri (India)
Match referee: Chris Broad (England)