India overcame an ordinary start in Bloemfontein to beat Bangladesh by 81 runs in the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024. After being rattled by Maruf Mridha at the start, Adarsh Singh and Uday Saharan fought back with fifties to help India to 251/7.
Left-arm spinners Saumy Pandey and Musheer Khan then shared six wickets between them to help India to a win.
Bangladesh decided to bowl first in Bloemfontein, looking to make the most of any early help available.
Left-arm pacer Maruf Mridha bowled with pinpoint accuracy and troubled the India openers. He eventually accounted for Arshin Kulkarni (7) and Musheer Khan (3) in his first spell to leave India in trouble.
India’s innings was anchored by the left-right combination of Adarsh Singh and skipper Uday Saharan. The duo overcame the guile of Bangladesh bowlers and put together a crucial 116-run stand for the third wicket. Things got tense during the middle overs, when the players engaged in verbal battles amidst India’s rising stand.
Adarsh (74) eventually fell while trying to loft Chowdhury Md Rizwan over mid-off in the 32nd over.
Bangladesh pressed on after this breakthrough, and soon had Saharan (64), whose composed knock came to an end off Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby’s bowling.
Useful cameos from Aravelly Avanish (23 from 17) and Sachin Dhas (26 from 20) helped to add crucial runs to the Indian total, but Maruf returned to pick two more wickets and restrict India to 251/7.
Maruf finished with an impressive five-wicket haul to announce himself in style. This was a step up for the pacer, as he’d picked a four-wicket haul in a semi-final win against the same opponents in the U19 Asia Cup last month.
Some erratic new ball bowling combined with a studious effort from the Bangladesh openers helped them get off to a confident start. Eventually, India got their first breakthrough when Murugan Abhishek took a brilliant catch at point as Jishan Alam tried to pierce a Raj Limbani delivery past him.
India vice-captain Saumy Pandey made an impact as soon as he was introduced. His accuracy and persistence got the better of Bangladesh batters, who tried to charge at him to up the scoring rate. Rizwan and Ashiqur Rahman Shibli were cleaned up while trying to go after Pandey.
When Ahrar Amin fell lbw to Kulkarni, Bangladesh had lost four wickets with over 200 to get, and were in dire need of a consolidating act. This came from Ariful Islam and Mohammad Shihab James, who stabilised the innings with a patient stand. However, disciplined bowling from India ensured that the Bangladesh scoring rate didn’t go too high.
It was Musheer’s canny slow left-arm spin that accounted for Ariful, and Bangladesh’s fight wilted. Spin accounted for seven wickets, with Saumy finishing with 4/24.
India’s skipper Uday Saharan discussed his crucial third-wicket stand with Adarsh, which helped his team to a strong position in the first innings.
“We focussed on executing our plans. After the loss of two early wickets, we remained calm. Adarsh batted brilliantly. We knew if we stayed at the wicket, runs will keep coming.”
India 251/7 (50 overs) v Bangladesh 167 (45.5 overs)
Content courtesy: ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2020 via Online Media Zone.
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