Skipper Ishan Kishan led from the front as the Indian Under-19 team smashed a mammoth total of 485 runs after electing to bat first against Canada U-19 before cleaning up the opposition for a paltry score of 113, thus giving the three-time World champions victory by a record margin of 372 runs in their warm-up game ahead of the ICC U-19 World Cup.
The Indian Under-19 team have been in a rich vein of form under the guidance of former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid and they exhibited their strength in all its might with a superb all-round performance. Ishan scored an 86-ball 138 while Ricky Bhui scored 115 off 71 balls to set India on their way, with both batsmen smashing seven hits over the boundary rope before heading back to the pavilion ‘retired hurt’ to give other batsmen a run in the middle.
The rest of the Indian batting didn’t disappoint either as Rishabh Pant, who opened the innings along with Ishan, as well as Mahipal Lomror, who smashed 30 runs in the final over of the Indian innings, also scored half-centuries. The much talked-about duo of Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffer also chipped in with little cameos.
None of the Canadian bowlers were spared as all the seven bowlers, including skipper Abraash Khan, conceded runs at more than seven an over, with Mamik Luthra conceding 71 runs off just 4 overs.
With the result pretty much a foregone conclusion, the Indian bowlers bowled confidently to do their bit in their victory. Lomror continued his good day at the office picking up three wickets while Zeeshan Ansari and Shubham Mavi picked up two wickets-a-piece. Sarfaraz picked up a wicket with his first ball to finish off the Canadian innings at 113.
India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on January 25 in another warm-up game before opening their World Cup campaign against Australia on Thursday and the Indian cricket fans would be hoping that the youngsters can reproduce the same kind of magic that they got to witness today in the upcoming matches as well.
Brief Scores:
Toss – India won the toss and elected to bat first
India U19 – 485/3 off 50 overs (Ishan Kishan 138 off 86 balls, Ricky Bhui 115 off 71 balls)
Canada U19 – 113 all out in 31.1 overs (Harsh Thaker 25, Lomror 19/3, Mavi 2/20)
Result – India U19 won by 372 runs
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