ICC U19 World Cup: India in the Semifinal

Published 01/26/2018, 5:00 AM EST

The Indian cricket team posted a huge 131-run win over Bangladesh in the quarter-final match of the ICC U19 World Cup 2018. The tournament is being held at the Queenstown Events Centre, Queenstown. Electing to bat first, India put up 265 runs on the board. Following that, the team bowled out Bangladesh for 134 in 42.1 overs. Kamlesh Nagarkoti bagged three wickets and conceded 18 runs in his spell. India will now face arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinal on Tuesday, 30th January in Christchurch.

After winning the toss, Indian skipper Prithvi Shaw opted to bat first. This pitch was not as easy to bat on compared to the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. But the Indian-middle order helped post a fighting total. Vice-captain Shubman Gill contributed heavily with his third consecutive fifty plus score. He struck 86 off 94 deliveries. Meanwhile, Shaw scored 40 at the top. Allrounder Abhishek Sharma chipped in with 50 off 49 deliveries late in the innings.

When it was time to defend the total, the Indian pacers met some resistance from the Bangladeshi openers. However, Pinak Ghosh and Mohammad Naim soon went down and added 23 runs in 8.4 overs. Shivam Mavi struck first for India with the wicket of Naim. Soon, Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals and couldn’t form any solid partnerships. Saif Hassan was the next casualty as he was beaten for pace from Nagarkoti. Hassan edged one to Abhishek Sharma’s waiting mitts.

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Opener Pinak Ghosh was on 43 runs and lost out to left-arm spinner Anukul Roy. Ghosh tried to slog the ball, but mistimed it to short third man. Once the spinners came on to the attack, the runs began to trickle. Abhishek, Anukul and Shiva Singh gave away very few runs and increased the pressure on Bangladesh. In a bid to score, the Bangladesh batsmen went for tight singles. But the Indian fielders had other ideas. Mavi, with deadly accuracy dismissed Towhid Hridoy.

Nagarkoti also sent Aminul Islam back to the pavilion. Abhishek finished with two for 11 in his five while Anukul claimed one for 14 in his five. Nagarkoti finished off the proceedings knocking over Hasan Mahmud’s off stump.

On the other end of the draw, Pakistan beat South Africa in the quarters. The other semi-final will be played between Afghanistan and Australia.

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.