India, in their first match of the Under 19 World Cup, beat Australia in a manner that justified their favourites tag.
That they won against the Aussies isn’t a surprise but to trounce them by 100 runs has made Rahul Dravid’s boys the team to beat in the tournament.
Chasing 328, Australia, unable to handle the pace of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, were all out for 228 in 42.5 overs. Nagarkoti and Mavi picked up three wickets apiece and constantly clocked over 140kmph.
Earlier, skipper Prithvi Shaw led from the front with a 94-run knock and shared a 180-run stand with fellow opener Manjot Kalra (86) to power India to a challenging 328/7.
The splendid top-order batting vindicated Shaw’s decision to bat in their tournament-opener.
There was no respite for the Australian bowlers even after departure of Shaw and Kalra with Shubhman Gill tormenting the bowlers with his 63-run knock.
Shaw and Klara didn’t always bludgeon the ball, they built their knocks with risk-free batting.
Shaw, however, missed out on a century by six runs as he was caught behind off Will Sutherland. The Indian captain faced 100 balls and scored eight boundaries, including two sixes in his knock.
His opening partner also missed a hundred by 14 runs. His 86 came off 99 balls with 12 shots to the fence and one over the ropes.
There were no steady partnerships after their departure even as Gill kept one end solid with his 54-ball knock which had six fours and a six.
The middle order batsmen lost their wickets, trying to accelerate the scoring rate. Himanshu Rana (14) and Anukul Roy (6) fell cheaply.
Abhishek Sharma’s 8-ball propelled India past the 300-run mark. He hit two sixes and as many fours.
As the Indian batsmen looked for some quick runs, Australian pacer Jack Edwards ended up taking four wickets.
(with inputs for PTI)
