Arshin Kulkarni’s 108 off 118 balls, Musheer  Khan’s 76-ball 73, and Naman Tiwari’s frugal spell of 4 for 20 led India to a big 201-run win over USA in the Under-19 World Cup on Sunday. The win meant they kept their unblemished record intact going into the Super Six of the tournament.

India piled up 326 for 5 in their 50 overs with Kulkarni and Musheer doing the bulk of the scoring. In reply, medium pacer Tiwari picked up 4 for 20 in nine overs as USA were kept to 125 for 8 in Bloemfontein.

After India were sent in to bat, Adarsh Singh struck three fours in the first over, but the USA bowlers kept both him and Kulkarni in check for a while. India could only manage 40 after ten overs, which led to Adarsh getting a bit desperate and chipping Ateendra Subramaniam the medium pacer, to mid-off when on 25.

Kulkarni and Musheer, however, dug in to add 155 runs off 142 balls for the second wicket. Both the batters took their time in settling in before opening up. Kulkarni had a lucky escape when he was dropped on 16 at mid-off and made sure to cash in. He hacked quick bowler Aarin Nadkarni for six over deep midwicket and clobbered Rishi Ramesh, the legspinner, around the same region before reaching his half-century off 70 balls.

Musheer continued from where he had left off against Ireland.  He got going with a cover drive off Nadkarni and then hit Utkarsh Srivastava across the line for six. It took him 56 balls to reach his half-century and with both batters now set, they got the boundaries away more frequently.

Musheer fell to Ramesh, but Kulkarni reached the three-figure mark with a four past fine leg off 110 balls. Captain Uday Saharan struck a 27-ball 35 to keep the momentum going, but he and Kulkarni fell in the space of six balls as USA looked for a way back. India, however, were 259 for 4 in the 44th over at that stage, and Priyanshu Moliya (27* off 19 balls), Sachin Dhas (20 off 16) and Aravelly Avanish (12* off seven) played important cameos to take India past the 325-run mark.

USA were never really in the chase. They lost openers Prannav Chettipalayam and Bhavya Mehta in the first two overs. Tiwari then removed Ramesh for 8 as USA slipped to 12 for 3 after 7.5 overs. Siddarth Kappa and Srivastava stayed firm for a bit, adding 43 runs off 93 balls for the fourth wicket, before offspinner Moliya got into the act, sending back Kappa for 18.

Tiwari then added to his wicket tally as he removed Srivastava and Manav Nayak in successive overs to have USA at 79 for 6, which soon became 90 for 7 after 30 overs. Amogh Arepally (27* off 71) and Nadkarni (20 off 44) added 31 off 78 balls for the eighth wicket, which delayed the inevitable and ensured India couldn’t bowl the opposition out.

India headed into the Super Sixes topping their group and will face New Zealand on Tuesday.

Brief scores:
India Under 19  326 for 5 in 50 overs  (Adarsh Singh 25, Arshin Kulkarni 108, Musheer Khan 73, Uday Saharan 35, Priyanshu Moliya 27*, Sachin Das 20; Ateendra Subramanian 2-45) beat USA Under 19 125 for 8 in 50 overs  (Utkarsh Srivastava 40, Amogh Arepally 27, Aarin Nadkarni 20; Naman Tiwari 4-20) by 201 runs