ICC Under-19 World Cup | Brilliant India go past Bangladesh to seal semifinal date with Pakistan
ICC
India have edged past a spirited Bangladesh side by 131 runs in their quarterfinal clash of the ICC Under-19 World Cup to secure a semi-final clash against archrivals Pakistan. Shubman Gill scored 86 runs while Abhishek Sharma propelled the team with a quick-fire 50 to guide India to 265.
Brief scores: India 265 in 49.2 overs (Shubman Gill 86, Abhishek Sharma 50; Qazi Onik 3-48) beat Bangladesh 134 in 42.1 overs (Pinak Ghosh 43; Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3-18) by 131 runs.
After winning the toss at the Queenstown Events Centre, India decided to bat first and Manjot Kalra failed to reach double digits for the first time in the tournament and got out for 9. Bangladesh kept bowling at a good line and length and didn’t let the three-time champions score freely. However, their bowlers failed to convert the pressure to wickets, and the Indian batsmen, who had been in sublime form in the tournament so far, took advantage of that.
Indian skipper Prithvi Shaw kept his brilliant form going and scored a useful 40, but Gill was the better of the duo scoring 86.
Chasing 266 was always going to be difficult for the 2016 ICC World Cup semi-finalists, mostly because the way Indian pacers are bowling in the World Cup and their beginning was nothing but that. Pinak Ghosh took too much of time to get going and eventually took 75 balls for his knock of 40 runs. Mohammad Naim took 22 balls for 12 runs, Saif Hassan took one more ball for the same amount of runs, while Towhid Hridoy faced 22 balls for 9 and Afif Hossain consumed 40 balls for
After Kamlesh Nagarkoti dismissed skipper Saif Hassan, Indian skipper Shaw resorted back to his spinners to mount more pressure on the batsmen. Abhishek Sharma accounted for 2 wickets for 11 with his left-arm spin to break the spine of the run-chase completely, and it was only a matter of time India crushed them entirely to finish off the formality and set up a much-awaited India-Pakistan semi-final clash. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will now take on England in the fifth-place play-off at the same venue on Sunday.
