India on Saturday stormed into the ICC Under-19 World Cup quarterfinals after producing a clinical all-round performance to wallop New Zealand by 120 runs in their penultimate group D encounter here.
Put into bat on a slow track, the three-time champions scored a decent 258 for eight with Sarfaraz Khan continuing his fine form hitting a polished 74.
left-handed opener Rishabh Pant and middle-order batsman Armaan Jaffer contributed 57 and 46 respectively. Another significant innings came from all-rounder Mahipal lomror, who scored a quickfire 42-ball-45.
In reply, New Zealand were decimated for 138 in only 31.3 overs with pacer Avesh Khan bowling a deadly opening spell to finish with figures of 4/32 in 10 overs which also earned him the Man of the Match award.
lomror could have also got the award as he capped his 45 with figures of 5/47 in 7.3 overs to polish off the tail.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ virtually wrapped up the match in the first 10 overs of New Zealand’s chase as Avesh reduced them to 16 for four wreaking havoc.
Brief Scores
India U-19: 258/8 (Sarfaraz Khan 74, Risabh Pant 57, Armaan Jaffer 46; Zak Gibson 3/50) beat New Zealand U-19: 138 (Christian leopard 40; Avesh Khan 4/32, Mahipal lomror 5/47) by 120 runs.
Nepal enter first-ever QF
Fatullah: Nepal rode on leg-spinner Sandeep lamichhane’s five-wicket haul, which included the first hat-trick in the tournament, to beat Ireland by eight wickets and book their maiden berth in the Super league quarter-finals of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup here on Saturday.
After restricting Ireland to 131 for nine, Nepal, which had stunned New Zealand in their opening match, coasted home in the 26th over with Yogendra Karki making 61.
Elsewhere
Sri lanka: 184 (Charith Asalanka 71; Shamsurrahman Wali 3/19, Karim Janat 2/37, Zahir Khan 2/36) beat Afghanistan: 151 (Waheedullah Shafaq 47, Karim Janat 40; Kamindu Mendis 3/36) by seven wickets.
Canada: 178 (Bhavindu Adhihetty 51, Abraash Khan 44; Hasan Khan 3/36, Shadab Khan 2/44) lost to Pakistan: 180/3(Zeeshan Malik 89 not out, Saif Badar 44) by seven wickets.
