Rishabh Pant hit 111 off 96 balls as title favourites India crushed Namibia by 197 runs to cruise into the semi-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah on Saturday.
All-rounder Anmolpreet Singh scored 41 and took 3- 27 in his first appearance in the tournament as India, who won the toss, piled up 349-6 before bowled the Africans out for 152 in 39 overs.
Three-time champions India will now take on the winner of today’s quarter-final match between England and Sri Lanka in the first semi-final in Mirpur on February 9.
Left-handed opener Pant, who had scored the fastest 50 in Under-19 internationals off 18 balls against Nepal, smashed 14 boundaries and two sixes during the wicketkeeper-batsman’s whirlwind knock.
The southpaw added 103 for the second wicket with Anmolpreet after captain Ishan Kishan had been caught and bowled by Fritz Coetzee for six in the third over.
That set the stage for an Indian assault with former school-mates Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffar scoring aggressive half-centuries.
Sarfaraz hit a run-a-ball 76 while Armaan made 64 off 55 balls before a late blitz by Mahipal Lomror lifted India to the mammoth total.
Left-handed Lomror took 24 runs in the final over bowled by Coetzee, which included three sixes, as he remained unbeaten on 41 off 21 balls.
Namibia made an impressive start with openers SJ Loftie-Eaton (22) and Niko Davin (33) putting on 59 for the first wicket.
Skipper Zane Green made 27 to lift Namibia to 80-1, but the rest of the batting caved in as left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar supported his off-break partner Anmolpreet with 3-25 runs.
‘We set a good target with Pant leading the way and then fielded and bowled well today,’ said India captain Kishan.
‘It was nice to move into the semi-finals with such a good win. Namibia had a good start, but we needed to stay patient and once the first wicket fell, we applied pressure on their batsmen.’
Asked whether India would prefer to face England or the West Indies in the semi-final, Kishan said: ‘We can fare well against either team. We just need to play to our strengths and do the basics right.’
Indian coach Rahul Dravid thinks at last his charges have started to play almost perfect cricket in the tournament.
‘I think we have played some good cricket right through the tournament’, said Dravid.
‘At some stages, I still feel we have not played a perfect game, but this was our best all-round performance.
‘We had a few hiccups earlier on in the batting but it is nice to see that we have recovered and we are playing well. We’re playing good cricket, focusing on the processes and not worrying too much about the results and things are going well.’
Dravid also added that he had reminded his boys not to be over-confident or complacent.
‘When you come into knock-out stage, you can’t take any team for granted. Namibia put in some very good performances to get here. Before the game started, we spoke about the dangers of being complacent and we wanted to get a win’, he said.
‘The focus was to win and not about anything else. I am glad that we were able to put on a commanding performance and qualify for the semi-finals.’
All-rounder Anmolpreet Singh scored 41 and took 3- 27 in his first appearance in the tournament as India, who won the toss, piled up 349-6 before bowled the Africans out for 152 in 39 overs.
Three-time champions India will now take on the winner of today’s quarter-final match between England and Sri Lanka in the first semi-final in Mirpur on February 9.
Left-handed opener Pant, who had scored the fastest 50 in Under-19 internationals off 18 balls against Nepal, smashed 14 boundaries and two sixes during the wicketkeeper-batsman’s whirlwind knock.
The southpaw added 103 for the second wicket with Anmolpreet after captain Ishan Kishan had been caught and bowled by Fritz Coetzee for six in the third over.
That set the stage for an Indian assault with former school-mates Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffar scoring aggressive half-centuries.
Sarfaraz hit a run-a-ball 76 while Armaan made 64 off 55 balls before a late blitz by Mahipal Lomror lifted India to the mammoth total.
Left-handed Lomror took 24 runs in the final over bowled by Coetzee, which included three sixes, as he remained unbeaten on 41 off 21 balls.
Namibia made an impressive start with openers SJ Loftie-Eaton (22) and Niko Davin (33) putting on 59 for the first wicket.
Skipper Zane Green made 27 to lift Namibia to 80-1, but the rest of the batting caved in as left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar supported his off-break partner Anmolpreet with 3-25 runs.‘We set a good target with Pant leading the way and then fielded and bowled well today,’ said India captain Kishan.
‘It was nice to move into the semi-finals with such a good win. Namibia had a good start, but we needed to stay patient and once the first wicket fell, we applied pressure on their batsmen.’
Asked whether India would prefer to face England or the West Indies in the semi-final, Kishan said: ‘We can fare well against either team. We just need to play to our strengths and do the basics right.’
Indian coach Rahul Dravid thinks at last his charges have started to play almost perfect cricket in the tournament.
‘I think we have played some good cricket right through the tournament’, said Dravid.
‘At some stages, I still feel we have not played a perfect game, but this was our best all-round performance.
‘We had a few hiccups earlier on in the batting but it is nice to see that we have recovered and we are playing well. We’re playing good cricket, focusing on the processes and not worrying too much about the results and things are going well.’
Dravid also added that he had reminded his boys not to be over-confident or complacent.
‘When you come into knock-out stage, you can’t take any team for granted. Namibia put in some very good performances to get here. Before the game started, we spoke about the dangers of being complacent and we wanted to get a win’, he said.
‘The focus was to win and not about anything else. I am glad that we were able to put on a commanding performance and qualify for the semi-finals.’
Source: new age
