2018 Under-19 World Cup, India vs Australia: Things which went right for India

The Prithvi Shaw-led Under-19 Indian team began their World Cup campaign with a morale-boosting 100-run win over Australia at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Australia, the three-time winners, were outplayed in all departments as the Indian openers set up the platform for a huge score followed by Shubman Gill's timely half-century to take India to 328.

Australia started off well but the Indian fast bowlers, who were breathtaking to watch, completely dismantled the opposition.

Shaw & Co. will play their second Group B encounter against Papua New Guinea at the same venue on Tuesday.

Now, let us have a look at five important factors that led to India's win.

#5 Impressive pace bowling

The Indian bowlers had a mammoth total of 328 runs to defend, but, they were not at all complacent as they did not let Australia get ahead at any time during the match.

Rajasthan pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti displayed some serious pace bowling as he was clocking 140kmph consistently to trouble the Australian openers.

Nagarkoti broke the opening partnership when he dismissed Max Bryant and ended up with figures of 3 for 29 in 7 overs.

On the other hand, Shivam Mavi, who opened the bowling for India, ran through Australia's lower-middle order and ended up claiming 3 for 45 in 8.5 overs.

#4 Picking up wickets at regular intervals

No matter what score you are defending, it is always important to strike at regular intervals to keep the batsmen under check and slow down the scoring rate.

Australian opener Jack Edwards fought a lone battle at the top as none of his teammates could put up a fight against the menacing Indian bowlers.

Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi were the stars of the show as they claimed three wickets each to derail Australia's chase, with Abhishek Sharma and Anukul Roy also chipping in with one wicket each.

#3 Stark difference between the two fielding sides

Australians have been the most athletic and fittest fielding sides of the world for quite some time now.

It is somehow unbelievable that the young Australian side were quite shabby in the field as they missed three easy catches and failed to hit the stumps on multiple occasions.

On the other hand, the Indian boys excelled in every department of the game including the ground fielding.

They held on to their catches and ran two Australian batsmen out courtesy their excellent throwing skills.

#2 Shubman Gill's fireworks and Abhishek Sharma's cameo

India's vice-captain Shubman Gill, who recently became the fourth youngest player from Punjab to score a Ranji hundred, picked up the innings after Shaw's dismissal as he scored 63 runs in just 54 deliveries.

Although there were no steady partnerships after the opening one, Gill's attacking innings, which had six fours and a six, ensured that India were well on track to cross the 300-run mark.

Then, in the death overs, Abhishek Sharma managed to produce some fireworks with an 8-ball 23-run cameo, which propelled India to 328/7.

#1 Strong opening stand between Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra

Prithvi Shaw won the toss and opted to bat first on a good batting surface against Australia in their ICC Under-19 World Cup opening match at Mount Maunganui.

The young skipper led from the front with a 94-run knock and shared a 180-run stand with fellow opener Manjot Kalra (86) to power India to a colossal 328/7.

Although both the openers missed on their respective centuries, their partnership built a solid platform for the team to launch a big attack in the death overs.

Shaw survived an early scare but the young captain played an almost flawless innings from there on and ended up winning the Man of the Match award for his splendid performance.