Queenstown: Riding on Shubman Gill’s 86 a 49-ball 50 from Abhishek Sharma and some quality bowling by Kamlesh Nagarkoti, the Indian U-19 team trounced their Bangladeshi counterparts by a huge margin of 131 runs in the Super League quarter-final.
The Prithvi Shaw led side would now go on to face arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final on January 30.
Batting first, India lost opener Manjot Kalra for just nine runs early on but an 86-run stand between skipper Shaw and Gill resurrected the Indian innings and took them past the 100-run mark. However, Shaw’s departure for 40 runs with India at 102/2 raised Bangladesh’s hopes of a comeback but contributions from wicket-keeper batsman Harvik Desai (34), Riyan Parag (15) and a well-made 50 from Sharma ensured that India posted a competitive total in 265 runs.
In reply, Bangladesh put up a below-par batting performance, falling short of the Indian total by 131 runs. Nagarkoti was the best bowler for India with three wickets as Bangladesh’s chase never got going as they lost wickets at regular intervals. As a matter of fact the 32-run stand for the second wicket between Pinak Ghosh (43) and Saif Hassan (12) was the highest of the innings as the batsmen failed to apply themselves and take responsibility of the chase. The Indians had the last laugh as they won the match by 131 runs to set up a date against Pakistan in the semi-final.
West Indies U-19 thrash Canada U-19 by 187 runs in Plate Semifinal
Keagon Simmons’ masterful 166 of 137 balls helped West Indies outplay Canada by 187 runs in the plate semi-final on Friday. The left-handed opener hit 17 fours and helped West Indies post a mammoth 323/8 in the first innings.
Alick Athanaze also contributed with a crucial 87 from 95 balls as the Canada bowlers were taken to the cleaners. However, Akash Gill turned out to be the best of the lot with four wickets conceding 54 runs.
Chasing such a huge total is a tough task anyday but the Canada U-19 team failed to put up a fight. Apart from Kavian Narress’ 61 and Arslan Khan’s 31, none of the other batsmen could even get to double figures as Ronaldo Alimohamed, Bhaskar Yadram and Athanaze scalped two wickets each to bundle out Canada for just 136 runs.
Brief scores-
Queenstown: Bangladesh U-19 134 all out (Pinak Ghosh 43, Afif Hossain 18; Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3/18) lost to India U-19 265 all out (Shubman Gill 86, Abhishek Sharma 50; Qazi Onik 3/48) by 131 runs.
Lincoln: Canada U-19 136 all out (Kavian Naress 61, Arslan Khan 31; Ronaldo Alimohamed 2/17) lost to West Indies U-19 323/8 (Keagan Simmons 166, Alick Athanaze 87; Akash Gill 4/54) by 187 runs