India in final of Emerging Players T20 tournament

Defending champions India cruised into the final of the Twenty20 leg of the Emerging Players Tournament, defeating Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) and South Africa in its first two matches in Brisbane.

The Parthiv Patel-led side scored a two-run victory over AIS in its first game, before trouncing South Africa by a comfortable 102-run margin in the next.

Against AIS, India rode on Shikhar Dhawan's 37-ball 58 to post a competitive 168 for four in their allotted 20 overs after winning the toss and deciding to bat.

He was ably supported by Parthiv (39) and Manish Pandey (32) en route the total.

With a defendable total on board, pacer Jaydev Unadkat (3/33) then impressed with the new ball to restrict the Australian side to 166 for five.

Apart from his exploits with the bat, Dhawan also played a part in the downfall of two AIS wickets.

He ran out danger man Luke Pomersbach (59 off 36), the top-scorer of AIS, and chipped in with a wicket while conceding just 25 runs from his three overs.

James Faulkner was the other half centurion for AIS, but eventually his 42-ball unbeaten 52 was not enough to see the Australian team home.

In the second match, Dhawan (47) and Parthiv (37) again came up with a solid start that enabled India to pile up 166 for seven on the board after they were sent in to bat by South Africa.

Apart from the opening duo, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Manish Pandey scored identical 14s while Naman Ojha made a quickfire 20 down the order to take India beyond the 160-mark.

For South Africa, Cornelius de Villers picked three wickets for 34.

Defending the target, Unadkat (4/10) and R Vinay Kumar (2/13) dished out a breathtaking opening spell to bowl out South Africa for a paltry 64 runs in 13.1 overs.

Piyush Chawla (2/8) was also among wickets with his leg spinners.