India defeat Bangladesh and Sri Lanka bag huge win in U19WC

Broadcast details for ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

India put themselves in a position of strength in Group B as they beat Bangladesh in a close encounter in Bulawayo on Saturday while in Windhoek, Sri Lankan batters put on a show in their big victory over Japan in the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Here’s how the two matches panned out:

India beat Bangladesh by 18 runs (by DLS method)

India defeated Bangladesh by 18 runs by the DLS method in a thrilling encounter to put themselves on the cusp of qualification for the Super 6s of the U-19 World Cup.

In a tight game that was affected by rain, India held their nerves in the final overs to get their second win of the competition.

India were put into bat by Bangladesh and Al Fahad dealt two early blows as he sent Ayush Mhatre and Vedant Trivedi back to the pavilion.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (72 off 67 balls) led the counter-attack for India with a superb half-century but Bangladesh picked up wickets at regular intervals to stifle the Indian batting. After Sooryavanshi’s departure, Abhigyan Kundu (80) took up the reins and kept the scoreboard ticking for India.

He was well supported by Kanishk Chouhan’s 26-ball 28 that helped Kundu bring up his half-century and take India past the 200-run mark.

India were eventually bowled out for 238 after the game lost one over due to rain. Al Fahad was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh as he bagged a five-wicket haul with figures of 5/38.

Bangladesh in reply lost Zawad Abrar early but Rifat Beg and captain Azizul Tamim stitched a 56-run stand that put them in a solid position in the run chase.

Chouhan broke the partnership sending Rifat back to the hut shortly before rain suspended play. The game was reduced to 29 overs with Bangladesh’s target revised to 165.

India tightened their bowling after the rain break and brought the required run-rate into play. However, skipper Tamim was defiant as he kept Bangladesh on course in the run chase.

Led by Vihaan Malhotra, India kept chipping at the wickets at the other end as the pressure got to the Bangladesh batters allowing India to squeeze in the victory.

Malhotra bagged four wickets in what proved to be a crucial spell that denied Bangladesh a famous win. Tamim did his bit with a half century but it wasn’t enough for Bangladesh.

India are next in action against New Zealand next Saturday while Bangladesh take on USA on Friday.

Sri Lanka beat Japan by 203 runs

Sri Lanka rode on a record-breaking batting display from Viran Chamuditha as they beat Japan by 203 runs in their opening match of the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek.

Asked to bat first, the Sri Lankan opening pair put on a run fest as they completely took the game away from Japan with a 328-run partnership. This is the highest partnership at the U-19 World Cup for any wicket.

The opening pair, Dimantha Mahavithana and Chamuditha dealt in boundaries scoring 37 fours between them as they provided the Japanese bowlers no respite. It was a run-out that ended the mammoth partnership as Mahavithana departed for 115.

The story of the innings came later as Chamuditha went past compatriot Hasith Boyagoda’s individual score of 191 against Kenya in the 2018 tournament to record the highest score by an individual batter in an U-19 World Cup innings.

He was dismissed shortly after but captain Vimath Dinsara made sure Sri Lanka finished on a high with a 24-ball 44 that propelled Sri Lanka to 387/4 in their 50 overs, their second-highest total in U-19 World Cup history.

Japan were rocked early in their innings as Sethmika Seneviratane removed Nikhil Pol on just the second delivery of the innings. Hugo Tani-Kelly who came in at No 3 stood firm for Japan stitching a solid partnership with Nihar Parmar.

Parmar was dismissed with Japan’s score just beyond the 50-run mark but Tani-Kelly kept going despite losing partners at the other end.

Japan’s chase faltered as Sri Lanka closed the game to record a 203-run victory but Tani-Kelly’s unbeaten knock of 101 runs would give them plenty of belief heading into the upcoming games.

Sri Lanka take on Ireland in their second game on Monday while Japan take on Australia a day later.