Latest News
Saharan, Dhas score centuries as unbeaten India march on
Nepal had India 62 for 3 after 14 overs, but India ended with 297 for 5. During the chase, Nepal were 65 for 1, but by then, 21.4 overs had already elapsed. Six overs later, that score read 77 for 7. Eventually, Nepal limped to 165 for 9 despite batting out their entire 50-over quota. That difference in the scoreline highlighted the gulf between the sides during their Group 1 meeting. Unbeaten India entered the semi-finals while Nepal headed home.
Nepal’s slide of 6 for 14 was fashioned by Saumy Pandev, who took three of those wickets, before finishing with 4 for 29. During that spell, Pandey seemed to have found just enough turn – or, at times, the lack of it – to bamboozle the batters. His third four-wicket haul of the tournament took his tally to 16 wickets at a staggering average of 6.62.
India’s win was set up with the bat by centurions Sachin Dhas and Uday Sahran. India were in a bit of bother after losing three early wickets, before the fourth-wicket pair got together in a 215-run fourth-wicket stand. Dhas dominated that partnership, smashing 116 off 101 balls in what turned out to be the highest stand for that wicket or lower in all Youth ODIs.
Saharan and Dhas were both on 11 off 15 balls at the 19-over mark, and from then onwards Dhas went on the attack. Promoted to No. 5, he got to a run-a-ball fifty in the 29th over, and finished with 11 fours and three sixes before falling in the 48th over. Saharan carried on and got to his century off from 107 deliveries.
Nepal dried up India’s boundaries in the death overs, conceding just 81 in the last 10 despite India going into the final powerplay with seven wickets in hand. They hit only five fours and a six in that period. One of them, midway through the 49th over, was expertly guided by Saharan between point and short third – it took him to 98, but he took his helmet off and began celebrating in the mistaken assumption that he had reached triple figures.
The milestone eventually came in the final over of the innings, as he ended the day as the World Cup’s second-highest run-getter.
Brief scores:
India Under 19s 297/5 in 50 overs (Adarsh Singh 21, Uday Saharan 100, Sachin Dhas 116;Gulshan Jha 3-56) beat Nepal Under 19s 165/9 in 50 overs (Arjun Kumal 26, Dev Khanal 33, Durgesh Gupta 29*; Saumy Pandev 4-29, Arshi Kulkarni 2-18) by 132 runs