ICC under-19 World Cup: India vs Papua New Guinea, Hits and Misses

After their thumping victory against Papua New Guinea in their second match of the ICC under-19 World Cup, India now have emerged as the favourites to win the tournament, yet again. Everything about their team looks settled, solid and seamless. Their batsmen have looked up for the task and their bowling has enviable variety as well as variations. They can still improve a tad in the fielding department, but it’s still good enough to not be a liability to their campaign.

India dominated Papua New Guinea from the word go. Prithvi Shaw won the toss and chose to field first, going all out and dismissing their opposition for a meek 66 in just under 22 overs.

The Indian opening batsmen were enough to see the total through and chase the target in 8 overs. A match, which usually ends around 1.30 PM IST, was over by 8.15 AM IST. Doesn’t get easier than this at international level, does it?

Let us take a closer look at the hits and misses from the game:

#1 Hit: Anukul Roy

The youngster scalped his first five-for in the match

The left-arm spinner, with his maiden five-for in youth ODI cricket, was the man of the match. He struck in his very first over and did not stop thereafter. Three of his five dismissals came through deliveries that skidded through.

In a game where all eyes were on the pace duo of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, this 19-year-old shone in overcast and seaming conditions.

He crippled the opposition batting order with his precise bowling and gave away just 14 runs in 6.5 overs at an economy of 2 runs per over.

#2 Miss: Simon Atai

The PNG opener tried to take the attack to the opposition by pulling Nagarkoti to two back-to-back boundaries but was dismissed before he could truly get going.

He fell to a run out by the same bowler immediately thereafter, and could barely make a mark on the game that was slipping out of hand in quick progression.

He was dismissed for 13 off 26 deliveries and was the third batsman to fall to India’s continuous prodding. He was one of the few batsmen who managed to score in double digits and thus, it was imperative that he stayed on the crease for PNG to have a fighting chance in the second innings.

However, his wicket just unravelled things further for them and they could never make a comeback into the match after that.

#3 Hit: Prithvi Shaw

The Indian skipper remained unbeaten on 57 runs

Shaw came into this tournament with a lot of pressure on his young shoulders, and the Mumbai batsman has lived up to expectations till now. He scored a terrific 97 in the last match and followed it up with a clinical half century again today.

It is worthy to be noted that of the 67 that India had to chase in the second innings, 57 were made by Shaw alone. The Indian skipper took most of the strike and lead from the front from the first delivery he faced.

The right-hander has impressed one and all already and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the deep stages of the tournament against quality oppositions in pressurizing situations.

#4 Miss: Papua New Guinea’s bowling attack

Granted that Vagi Karaho’s team did not have much to bowl at in the Indian innings, but they still should’ve scalped a couple of wickets to put a fight to protect their total.

The bowling unit seemed completely toothless, though, and Shaw and Manjot Kalra handled them with ease. Semo Kamea, James Tau, and Leke Morea had bowled with economies of 9, 7 and 11 respectively. They glided to victory with a run-rate of more than 8 and were not perturbed anywhere through the innings.

Not to mention, the bowling attack failed with the bats too. The last four batsmen scored a duck each and did not contribute at all to the meager score put up by the first-timers.

#5 Hit: Indian seam bowlers

They might have played the second fiddle to Roy on the day, but the Indian seamers played it to perfection.

Nagarkoti and Mavi impressed with their pace and precision yet again, and picked up 3 wickets between them. The duo gave away just 33 runs in the eleven overs that they bowled between them. Left-arm medium pacer, Arshdeep Singh, also did well and picked up 1 for 33 in his quota of 10 overs.

All in all, the Indian bowling contingent looks strong and steady. It has shown sparks of brilliance in the two games that the team has played so far and has been responsible for India’s victory in both the cases.

Coach Dravid would definitely be delighted with their performance so far and would hope that they continue to impress in the latter stages of the tournament.