India kick-off U-19 World Cup campaign with victory over Pakistan

Sanju Samson

Indian Under-19 team defeated Pakistan Under-19 team by 40 runs in the Group A match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. Sanju Samson and Sarfaraz Khan scored half-centuries for India, while off-spinner Deepak Hooda picked up 5 wickets to turn the tides in India’s favour.

India had a good start, led by the openers Akhil Herwadkar and Ankush Bains, who put on 65 runs in the first eight overs. But then Bains was bowled by Irfanullah Shah for 24. The Indian captain Vijay Zol also got out for just 3 runs to his name. To make things worse, the leg-spinner Karamat Ali soon accounted for Herwadkar, who had scored 42 runs off 46 deliveries.

Immediately after that, Karamat struck again and this time he got Bhui to leave the score at 94 for 4 in 21 overs. However, Sanju Samson, the vice captain of Team India, gave a bit of stability to the innings. India could gather only 30 runs in the next 14 overs. This game was seemingly tilted towards Pakistan. However, Samson changed his approach and became more aggressive. The Rajasthan Royals player and newcomer Sarfaraz Khan held the innings together as India got to 214 for 5.

Pakistan finally got a breakthrough as Sarfaraz departed after a well-made 74. And as luck would have it, Sanju Samson also got out soon. In the final overs, Deepak Hooda held the fort from one end and contributed with his timely knock of 22 not out, which helped India set a target of 263 runs to Pakistan.

In reply, Pakistan were off to a fairly good start as the Indian bowlers gave away quite a few extras in the powerplay overs. Once the Pakistani batsmen got set, they started playing their shots. The opening pair put on more than 100 runs.

But ultimately India got the vital breakthroughs as Imam-Ul-Haq was caught in the deep and Sami Aslam was run out after scoring 64 runs. Soon, Hasan Raza followed suit and was bowled out by Khan for 14 runs. Kamran Ghulam was run out, too, without making a single run. After that, the Indian bowlers started to exert control over the game. The asking rate kept rising and reached a level where it became too difficult for the Pakistan lower order.

Towards the end, Pakistan needed 67 off the last 5 overs, with just 3 wickets remaining. This proved to be a bridge too far, and they lost the match by 40 runs, with Hooda taking 5-41. It was a victory which looked very unlikely for India at one stage. But the timely run out of Sami changed the match in India’s favour. India will be hoping to take confidence from this match and go on to achieve bigger things in the tournament.