India Under-19s 42 for 0 (Jaiswal 29*) beat Japan Under-19s 41 (Bishnoi 4-5, Tyagi 3-10) by ten wickets
India took under two hours to bowl Japan out for 41, the joint-second-lowest total in the history of the Under-19 World Cup, and then took just 29 balls to chase the target down and secure their second win in Group A and virtually confirm their place in the quarter-finals.
Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was recently bought by Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2020, took 4 for 5, including two wickets in his first two deliveries, to wreck Japan’s middle order. Right-arm seamer Kartik Tyagi also took three wickets, of which two came with the new ball. Left-arm pacer Akash Singh collected two lower-order wickets while Vidyadhar Patil, playing his first game of the tournament, had one as the Indians were all over Japan.
The highest contribution to Japan’s total – 19 – came from extras, of which 12 were wides as India’s new-ball bowlers looked for the yorker but erred in line, making wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, the birthday boy, to dive and scramble time and again.
Opener Shu Noguchi and No. 8 Kento Dobell top-scored for Japan with seven apiece while five batsmen were out for ducks.
Bishnoi was clearly the pick of the Indian bowlers, using his wrong’uns frequently and clean bowling two top-order Japanese batsmen in similar fashion.
Tyagi and Singh initially bowled outside off, looking to get some movement, but seeing that the Japan openers weren’t to be tempted, soon changed their line to full and straight. That paid off for Tyagi, whose yorker knocked over Japan captain Marcus Thurgate. He then welcomed No. 3 Neel Date with another yorker and the batsman was trapped lbw for a duck. The total of 14 for 2 soon became 14 for 4 after Bishnoi’s introduction, and by the time Japan reached 19 they had lost seven wickets. A 13-run partnership between Dobell and No. 9 Maximillian Clements (5) took Japan past what is the lowest-ever Under-19 World Cup score [22, for Scotland against Australia in 2004], but then Singh and Tyagi returned to finish the innings for the same total that Canada managed against South Africa in 2002.
Kumar Kushagra, who also played his first game of the tournament, opened the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal during the reply. Jaiswal struck five fours and the game’s only six in his 18-ball 29 while Kushagra chipped in with 13 in 11 deliveries. Shashwat Rawat, the other India player appearing in his first game, ended up playing no major part in the match.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo