Men’s U19 World Cup: Musheer Khan’s hundred; Naman Tiwari’s 4-53 help India outplay Ireland

BLOEMFONTEIN — Musheer Khan stole the headlines on Thursday with a smashing hundred, combining with captain Uday Saharan in a 156-run partnership as India beat Ireland by a massive 2-1-run margin to consolidate their position at the top of Group A table in the ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup here.

In the bowling department, left-arm quick Naman Tiwari and Saumy Pandey excelled, sharing seven wickets between them as India bundled out Ireland for 100 in 29.4 overs after posting a challenging 301/7 in 50 overs.

Put in to bat at the Mangaung Oval, India made the most of the good batting conditions against Ireland.

John McNally dismissed the Indian openers Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni after the two got off to starts, but Uday Saharan and Musheer Khan combined in what turned out to be a game-changing partnership.

The duo started slowly, scoring the first boundary after more than 10 overs into the partnership, but runs came thick and fast from there as the two showcased their range of strokes.

Musheer brought up his fifty in the 34th over and Saharan followed suit soon after, making it four fifties in four outings (including two in the warm-up games) at the tournament. Both batters moved across to the off-side to exploit the fine-leg region with scoop shots.

Saharan couldn’t convert his half-century to a bigger knock as he fell attempting one of those scoop shots that had brought him success. The lack of pace and timing in the shot saw Saharan hole out for 75.

Musheer went on to complete his hundred off as many balls and raced to 118 off 106 balls before attempting a risky double that saw him finish short of the crease as the keeper took off the bails.

Sachin Dhas hit two fours and a six in the final over before Oliver Riley wrapped up the innings with two wickets in two balls. India had enough by then, though, finishing on 301/7.

In their chase, the Ireland openers got off to a careful start against India’s new-ball bowlers Naman Tiwari and Dhanush Gowda, so Saharan turned to Saumy Pandey’s spin for the breakthrough.

The left-arm spinner struck immediately, bowling Jordan Neill with a peach that turned past the outside edge to crash into the stumps.

With the opening created, Tiwari started banging the ball into the wicket to generate extra bounce. The ploy worked as Ryan Hunter holed out attempting a pull stroke off a short ball. Skipper Philippe le Roux nicked one behind the same over as Ireland slipped further.

Another short ball next over brought Tiwari his third as Scott MacBeth perished. Aravelly Avanish produced a sharp stumping next over off Pandey as Ireland were reduced 41/5.

Wickets continued to tumble as Ireland lost five wickets, one in each over, between overs 11 and 15. Murugan Abhishek, like in the last game, took a stunning catch at point to dismiss McNally. With Tiwari sending back the in-form Kian Hilton, India had asserted complete dominance.

Daniel Forkin and Riley hung around to delay India’s win, adding a few runs in a steady partnership. Abhishek broke the stand by trapping Riley in front by coming around the wicket. Saharan took the final wicket as India completed a 201-run victory.

Tiwari finished with four wickets and Pandey three as India completed a massive victory in Bloemfontein to make it two wins out of two.

India will take on the USA next on January 28, while Ireland complete their group schedule with one win in three games. If the USA lose their matches against Bangladesh and India, Ireland will go through to the Super Six stage.

The match will also be known for another important stat as the 401 runs it produced is the lowest match aggregate in Youth ODI matches involving India U-19s and Ireland U19s.

Brief scores:

India U19 301/7 in 50 overs (Musheer Khan 118, Uday Saharan 75, ARshin Kulkarni 32; Oliver Riley 3-55, John McNally 2-45) beat Ireland U19 100 all out in 29.4 overs (Daniel Forkin 27 not out; Naman Tiwari 4-53, Saumy Pandey 3-21) by 201 runs.