India U19 spin through New Zealand, win by 44 runs

Hyderabad: The U19 boys from India beat Newzealand in their final group game by 44 runs (DLS Method) and topped the Group-A with 3 wins out of 3 games. The spinners lead the team to victory in a rain affectd game which was shortened to 23-overs a side at Blomfentein as Ravi Bishnoi and Atharva Ankolekar picked 7 wickets among themselves to seal the victory for India.

After being put to bat first by the kiwis, the Indian openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyansh Saxena gave a flying start to the team as they played the kiwi bowlers sensibly. The openers stuck around and put up a hundred run stand for the opening wicket. This was their first 100-run partnership in the tournament. Rain soon played the spoilsport as the play had to be stopped. Yashasvi Jaiswal brought up his second fifty g the tournament before the rain Gods showed up and India were well placed at 107/0. As the rain stopped, India had two overs to play. Divyansh Saxena brought up his maiden fifty as India finished on 115/0 in 23 overs.

New Zealand were given a revised target of 192 in 23 overs to win the match. The kiwi openers started attacking right away as they put up 53 for the first wicket. India's spin spearhead Ravi Bishnoi got the breakthrough by sending Ollie white for 14. Rhys Mariu and Fergus Lellman continued the attack as they scored 15 runs from Atharva Ankolekar's first over. Ankolekar then made a brilliant comeback by sending both Lellman and Mariu back to the pavilion. This broke the back of the Kiwi Indian batting line-up as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They ended up scoring 147 in the given 23 overs as the Indian spin duo o Ankolekar and Bishnoi scripted a famous victory for India in their final group game. Ravi Bishnoi won his second consecutive Man of the Match award for his bowling figures of 4/30 in 5 overs.

The defending champions will now lock horns with Australia in the Quarter-final-1 of the tournament on January 28 at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. Australia too are in great form as they will face India at the back of a fighting victory against England.