Al Amerat (Oman), Oct 21: Opener Abhishek Sharma struck a scintillating half-century after an excellent performance by the bowlers as a dominant India defeated UAE by seven wickets to enter the semifinals of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup here on Monday.

This was the Indian team's second win in as many matches in the tournament, having beaten traditional rivals Pakistan by seven runs in the opener.

Abhishek smashed 58 in 24 balls before Ayush Badoni completed the formality of chasing down a target of 108 with a six and four. India won with as many as 55 balls still left to be bowled.

While Abhishek hit five fours and four sixes in his blazing knock, skipper Tilak Varma missed out on a big one after making 21 in 18 balls.

Opting to bat first, UAE were bowled out for 107 in 16.5 overs.

The decision backfired as UAE lost both openers -- Mayank Kumar (10) and Aryansh Sharma (1) -- inside the first two overs.

Seamer Rasikh Salam dismissed three batters in his opening over, reducing UAE to 40 for 5 inside the power play.

Salam was adjudged the Player of the Match for returning excellent figures of 3/15 with the ball. There were also a couple of strikes from Ramandeep Singh (2/7) as India bundled out UAE with more than three overs remaining in their innings.

UAE skipper Basil Hameed (22 off 12 balls) and Rahul Chopra (50 off 50 balls) steadied the ship with a 41-run partnership before Abhishek broke the partnership, getting the former caught off his own bowling.

That UAE managed to cross 100 was largely due to Chopra's effort.

India are currently on top of Group B with four points, and take on hosts Oman in their final group game on Wednesday.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.