BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa: India took under two hours to bowl Japan out for 41, the joint-second-lowest total in the history of the Under-19 World Cup, and then took just 29 balls to chase the target down and secure their second win in Group A and virtually confirm their place in the quarter-finals.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was recently bought by Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2020, took 4 for 5, including two wickets in his first two deliveries, to wreck Japan’s middle order.
Right-arm seamer Kartik Tyagi also took three wickets, of which two came with the new ball. Left-arm pacer Akash Singh collected two lower-order wickets while Vidyadhar Patil, playing his first game of the tournament, had one as the Indians were all over Japan.
The highest contribution to Japan’s total — 19 — came from extras, of which 12 were wides as India’s new-ball bowlers looked for the yorker but erred in line, making wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, the birthday boy, to dive and scramble time and again.
Opener Shu Noguchi and No. 8 Kento Dobell top-scored for Japan with seven apiece while five batsmen were out for ducks.
Another poor batting performance meant another heavy defeat for Scotland in Group C of the Under-19 World Cup, as they lost by seven wickets to Bangladesh in Potchefstroom, the same margin as their loss to Pakistan earlier. Batting first after winning the toss, like they had against Pakistan, Scotland again got off to a wobbly start, losing four wickets for just 21 runs before fighting back a bit through Uzzair Shah and Daniel Cairns.
Uzzair was the dominant partner in the 31-run stand, with Cairns contributing just 7 runs in 37 balls, but it helped Scotland hold Bangladesh off for a while.
Uzzair continued till the 28th over before becoming the ninth man out for 28, but by then left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan, the Player of the Match, had started to weave his magic, tying the batsmen up in knots and running through the lower order. Jamie Cairns did hit a quick 17, but there was no stopping Hasan as he returned 4 for 20 in just five-and-a-half overs.
The reply from Bangladesh wasn’t all smooth, as they lost Tanzid Hasan off the first ball of the innings, caught behind off Sean Fischer-Keogh, who went on to pick up all three wickets to fall in the chase. But there wasn’t a lot of penetration from the rest of the bowlers, and Parvez Hossain (25 in 15 balls) and Mahmudul Hasan (35* in 48) made sure Bangladesh earned full points, finishing the job in 16.4 overs.
Scores in brief: India Under-19s 42-0 (Jaiswal 29 not out) beat Japan Under-19s 41 (Bishnoi 4-5, Tyagi 3-10) by ten wickets.
Bangladesh Under-19s 91-3 (Mahmudul 35 not out, Fischer-Keogh 3-27) beat Scotland Under-19s 89 (Uzzair 28; Rakibul 4-20, Shoriful 2-13) by seven wickets.
West Indies Under 19s beat England Under 19s by 71 runs: West Indies 267-7, 50 overs (Kevlon Anderson 86 not out, Nyeem Young 66; Lewis Goldsworthy 2-28). England 184-9 in 43.4 overs (Tom Clark 38, Ben Charlesworth 36; Nyeem Young 5-45).
Australia Under 19s beat Nigeria Under 19s by ten wickets: Nigeria 61 all out, 30.3 overs (Elijah Olaleye 21; Tanveer Sangha 5-15, Bradley Simpson 3-11). Australia 62-0, 7.4 overs (Sam Fanning 30 not out, Jake Fraser-McGurk 23 not out).