Musheer, Pandey give India thumping win over NZ; all-round Ahmad helps Pakistan topple Ireland

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India 295 for 8 (Musheer 131, Adarsh 52, Clarke 4-62) beat New Zealand 81 (Jackson 19, Cumming 16, Pandey 4-19, Musheer 2-10) by 214 runs

Musheer Khan smashed his second century in three innings and followed it up with figures of 2 for 10 off his 3.1 overs as India registered a thumping 214-run win over New Zealand in the first game of the Super Sixes round of the U-19 World Cup. This was India’s third successive 200-plus run win in the tournament, one which took them a step closer to booking a semi-final spot.

Sent in to bat, India, led by Musheer’s 126-ball 131 and Adarsh Singh’s 52, piled up 295 for 8 in their 50 overs. New Zealand were then blown away by Raj Limbani and left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey, who finished with 4 for 19 off his ten overs to bundle them out for 81 in Bloemfontein. This was New Zealand’s third-lowest score in the history of the U-19 World Cup.

New Zealand made three changes, leaving out their highest wicket-taker Matt Rowe. Arshin Kulkarni, on the back of a century in the last game, got going with a flick through square leg, but failed to carry on. He rushed down the track to a back-of-a-length Mason Clarke delivery that he looked to flay away but could only manage a top edge that flew to deep third.

Musheer, coming in on the back of 118 and 73 in the previous two games, immediately got going. He started with a ramp off Clarke over the keeper’s head before unfurling a cracking cover drive to quickly move to double figures. Adarsh, meanwhile launched a couple of sparkling drives.

With the conditions ripe for batting, they rotated the strike at every given interval and found the boundaries regularly. India, whose powerplay scores so far this tournament have been 45 for 2, 38 for 1 and 40 for 0, raced to 61 for 1 against New Zealand. New Zealand’s ground fielding was also not up to mark at least in the first ten overs.

Even after the powerplay, New Zealand continued to leak runs with Adarsh taking Oscar Jackson for two fours in an over before reaching his second fifty of the tournament off 56 balls with a clip through square leg for three. The left-hander, however, fell soon after almost against the run of play slicing legspinner Zac Cumming to point to end a run-a-ball 77-run partnership.

Captain Uday Saharan then walked in but failed to get the same momentum going, as the surface started taking some turn. New Zealand employed spin for 25 overs straight and Snehith Reddy, Cumming (1-37) and Oliver Tewatiya (1-43) shone through. Even as Musheer kept the innings chugging along, Saharan struggled.

The Indian captain could only manage 34 off 57 balls but that did not deter Musheer, who kept going. The 18-year-old raced through the 90s with a reverse sweep and reached his century with a single to deep midwicket. With the hundred, Musheer also became just the second Indian with multiple centuries in a single edition of the U-19 World Cup since Shikhar Dhawan in 2004.

Musheer was dropped at deep square leg soon after breaching the three-figure mark, but New Zealand managed to restrict India to an extent with Clarke doing the damage finishing with 4 for 62. Musheer fell in the 48th over getting a top edge that was taken at extra cover. India did score 89 runs in the last ten overs but lost five wickets in the process.

If there was any momentum that New Zealand took into their second innings, they lost all of it in Limbani’s first over. In what was a spell of inswinging brilliance, he breached opener Tom Jones’ defences first ball with a nip-backer that left his stumps in a mess. Reddy then shouldered arms first ball and was struck in front, but the umpire adjudged the ball to be going over the stumps. He, however, didn’t last long playing all around a length ball that tailed back in sharply as New Zealand were reduced to 0 for 2 after the first over. That became 13 for 3 when Lachlan Stackpole was cleaned up by Pandey’s arm ball.

It was a procession thereon with none of the New Zealand batters picking any of the bowlers. James Nelson was caught lbw by Pandey for 10 while Naman Tiwari took out Tewatiya. Jackson and Cumming resisted for 40 balls before Musheer took out Jackson with a yorker while Pandey added two more wickets to his tally.

It was fitting that Musheer ended the game, taking out Ewald Schreuder, as New Zealand were taken down comprehensively.

By Ashish Pant

All-round Ahmad extends Pakistan’s unbeaten run

Pakistan 182 for 7 (Ahmad 57*, Dyer 4-35) beat Ireland 181 (McNally 53, Dyer 31, Ubaid 3-31) by three wickets

After Pakistan elected to bowl, Ahmad chipped in with 2 for 37 from his eight overs to help bundle out Ireland for a mere 181. But it wasn’t a smooth chase, and Pakistan lost half their side with just 96 runs on the board. Ahmad, though, stayed firm and took his side over the line with an unbeaten 57.

Earlier, Ubaid Shah, Naseem Shah’s younger brother, started the damage with his searing pace, leaving Ireland at 7 for 1 in the sixth over. Ahmad, Amir Hassan and Ali Raza made regular strikes after that to make it 39 for 5 in the 19th over. It soon became 63 for 6 before John McNally and Harry Dyer added 65 off 82 balls for the seventh innings. McNally brought up his half-century but despite the resistance from the lower order, Ireland were all out in the 49th over.

Pakistan didn’t have a great start either and lost their openers inside the first six overs. Dyer, who had earlier scored an important 31, took care of the middle order, picking up 4 for 31 with his offspin.

But Ahmad was unperturbed. Along with Haroon Arshad, he revived the chase by adding 63 off 75 for the sixth wicket. By the time Ireland got rid of Arshad, Pakistan were just 23 away from the target. They lost another wicket after three runs, but Ahmad was a calming presence in the middle. He reached his half-century in 68 balls and then scored the winning run with 6.2 overs to spare.

West Indies trump Sri Lanka in last-over finish

West Indies (Wedderburn 61, Johnson 39, Lahiru 2-32) beat Sri Lanka 231 (Kalupahana 53, Tharupathi 42, Smith 4-47) by three wickets

In a thrilling finish in Kimberley, West Indies came out on top as they beat Sri Lanka by three wickets with just three balls to spare.

After being sent in, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals. It started with Nathan Edward dismissing Vishen Halambage in the first over of the game, and having Sineth Jayawardena a little later.

Dinura Kalupahana occupied one end and stitched useful partnerships with Supun Waduge and Sharujan Shanmuganathan, but at 136 for 6, Sri Lanka were in danger of being all out under 200.

Kalupahana and Malsha Tharupathi ensured that didn’t happen by adding 51 off just 38 balls. Kalupahana lent the stability with his 53 off 83 and Tharupathi provided the impetus by scoring 42 off 38. For West Indies, seamer Raneico Smith was the most successful bowler with figures of 4 for 47.

Captain Stephan Pascal and Steve Wedderburn gave West Indies a breezy start of 48 in 8.1 overs before Kalupahana dismissed Pascal. Wedderburn carried on and struck 61 off 71 deliveries, which included five fours and three sixes.

West Indies seemed to be cruising at 147 for 2 but Sri Lanka fought back. They picked up four wickets in the next 37 runs. From the last 54 balls, West Indies needed 47 and had two new batters at the crease.

But Nathan Sealy first added 22 off 27 with Jewel Andrew and then an unbeaten 26 off as many balls with Tarrique Edward to ensure West Indies didn’t squander their winning position.