Abhigyan, Deepesh set up massive win for India U-19 against Malaysia

Abhigyan Kundu’s record 209 not out and an excellent return of 5/22 from Deepesh Devendran set up a massive 315-run victory for India against Malaysia in their U-19 Asia Cup match on Tuesday. India’s margin of win is now their second biggest in terms of runs in Youth ODIs, after a 326-run triumph over Uganda in 2022.

Kundu etched his name in record books with a first-ever double century for any Indian in Youth ODIs, scoring his runs off 125 balls with 17 fours and nine sixes to fire India to a mammoth 408 for seven. In reply, right-arm medium pacer Devendran ran through the Malaysian middle-order after Kishan Singh and Udhav Mohan struck once each to rock the opposition, and despite a late resistance from Hamzah Panggi (35), Malaysia were bowled out for 93 in 32.1 overs.

It was a perfect outing for the Indian colts who put together a robust batting show, in which the tone was set by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who notched up a quickfire 50 off 26 balls (5 fours and 3 sixes). While Sooryavanshi could not convert his start into another big score, having scored 171 a few days ago against UAE, India were unperturbed even as they lost Vihaan Malhotra (7) and Ayush Mhatre (14) cheaply.

Number 4 Vedant Trivedi teamed up with Kundu as the two added 209 runs for the fourth wicket to consolidate, in which the latter was the dominant of the two with his aggressive stroke play particularly on the leg side. The 17-year-old Kundu’s rotation of the strike was top notch as he collected 55 singles during his innings while hitting 17 fours and nine sixes in his superlative knock.

Kundu’s double ton is also only the second instance of a batter at U-19 level crossing the 200-run mark, with South Africa’s Jorich Van Schalkwyk’s 215 against Zimbabwe earlier this year being the first. The 18-year-old Trivedi looked set for a triple-figure score but ended up giving a return catch to Jaashwin Krishnamurthy, walking back for 90 of 106 balls (7 fours). Kundu was the aggressor in his 87-run stand for the fifth wicket with Kanishk Chouhan while he brought up his double hundred.

Brief scores: India U-19 408/7 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 50, Vedant Trivedi 90, Abhigyan Kundu 209 not out; Muhammad Akram 5/89) beat Malaysia 93 in 32.1 overs (Hamzah Panggi 35; Deepesh Devendran 5/22, Udhav Mohan 2/24) by 315 runs.