India knocked defending champion out and set up semi finals clash against Australia
Brief Scores: India 117/5 (Raghuvanshi 44, Mondol 4-31) beat Bangladesh 111 (Meherob 30, Ravi Kumar 3-14) by five wickets
India squared off against Bangladesh in the quarter-final of ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022 at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Saturday.
India won toss and opted to field first
India skipper Yash Dhull won the toss and opted to field first. India’s bowlers proved their captain’s decision right from the very first over of the match.
Ravi Kumar hunts first prey
India’s opening pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar bowled an incisive first over, out of which the first ball nearly shattered the stumps of Bangladesh opener Mahfijul Islam, however, bails didn’t fall off even as the ball brushed the stumps. His bowling partner, left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar was also on the money from his first over only. He dislodged the stumps of Islam, who survived on the first ball of the match. Islam could make only two runs off four deliveries.
Ravi bags two more
Both speedsters continued to beat the batters with their pace and swing. Second opener Iftakher Hossain got caught by Shaik Rasheed off the delivery of Ravi Kumar after struggling for 17 deliveries. Even if Hangargekar beat the batters in every over, his partner Ravi Kumar continued to give blows to the opposition. This time he picked one down batter Prantik Nabil on the score of just seven. Kumar forced Nabil to drive and the ball took the edge of the latter’s bat which was caught by Kaushal Tambe at first slip.
Bangladesh find themselves in a hole at 56/7, spinner Vicky Ostwal bags two in an over
Seamer Raj Bawa came as the first bowling change and continued to maintain unrelenting pressure on the batters. All of India’s three pacers bowled such fearsome spells that Bangladesh batters couldn't hit a single boundary in the first ten powerplay overs.
Ravi Kumar bowled one of the best spells in the World Cup, by taking three wickets which cost only five runs in five overs.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Vicky Ostwal bowled really well in the 16th over of Bangladesh’s innings to pick two wickets. Ariful Islam went to drive a tossed-up delivery bowled by Ostwal but edged it to wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana. Ariful could make only nine runs off 27 deliveries. In the same over, Bangladesh’s wicketkeeper batter Md Fahim paid the price for playing a high-risk stroke early in the innings as he went for a switch hit but completely missed the ball which dismantled the stumps. Fahim registered the first duck in the innings and Bangladesh were reduced to 37 for five due to wicket-taking spells from Ravi Kumar and Ostwal.
Right-arm off-break spinner Kaushal Tambe sent Rakibul Hasan back to the hut for 7. Lower-order batter Aich Mollah tried to gather quick runs and slogged one six over the cow corner. However, he got run out due to a quick throw by India skipper Dhull. Mollah could score only 17 runs off 48 balls.With Mollah’s doismissal, Bangladesh found themselves reeling at 56/7 in 23.4 overs.
Meherob Hasan’s late assault helps Bangladesh cross 100
Bangladesh were facing the imminent danger of getting bundled out below 100 runs being seven down even before the halfway mark of their innings. However, lower-order batter Meherob Hasan smashed a few boundaries to add quick runs to the total. He hammered three elegant boundaries in an over bowled by spinner Kaushal Tambe.
At last Angkrish Ranghuvanshi picked the wicket of Meherob on 30 off 48 balls to break the fifty-run partnership between the latter and Ashiqur Zaman. Meherob walked down the pitch but got stumped by wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana.
In the same over, Zaman got run out with a throw by Siddarth Yadav on 16. Right-arm pacer Hangargekar picked the wicket of Tanzim Hasan Sakib to bundle out Bangladesh for a measly 111.
India lost their first wicket early in the innings but Raghuvanshi’s steady 44 lent stability
India looked all set to chase the meagre target of 112 runs in 50 overs. Though they also suffered an early blow, as right-arm pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib picked the wicket of opener Harnoor Singh for a duck in the second over of the innings. Singh was put on the backfoot by the extra bounce of Sakib and edged the ball to wicketkeeper Fahim.
One down batter Shaik Rasheed joined second opener Ranghuvanshi in the middle. Both batters saw off the new ball bowling in the powerplay by batting cautiously against the pacers. Raghuvanshi took a few chances and pounced on loose deliveries to send them towards the boundary rope. The right-handed batter smashed two boundaries off Zaman to take his side above the tally of 50. Rasheed played the second fiddle in this vital partnership of 70 runs for the second wicket.
When Raghuvanshi was batting on 44, he slammed a short-wide delivery straight bowled by Ripon Mondol to Nabil at point Nabil. The 16-year-old Ranghuvanshi had, however, done his job by now with India just 42 runs away from a semi-final berth.
Mondol bags three more but India were well on their way by then
After getting Raghuvanshi, right-arm medium pacer Ripon Mondol picked his second wicket in his next over. Rasheed poked at a good-length delivery from Mondol which resulted in an edge and was caught by wicketkeeper Fahim. Rasheed mustered 26 runs off 59 deliveries. Next batter Siddarth Yadav got off the mark with an elegant boundary, however, he got undone by an amazing catch by Iftakher Hossain at short extra cover. In this way, the 18-year-old Mondol shattered the top-order of India’s batting.
Yash Dhull adds quick runs to take India through to SF
India’s skipper Dhull charged down against Sakib to plunder three boundaries in an over. However, Mondol looked in fearsome form and picked his fourth wicket by sending Raj Bawa to the pavilion for a duck. Bawa was strangled down the leg and edged a delivery which was caught by wicketkeeper Fahim.
The pair of Dhull and Tambe took India to 100 runs and then to the target of 112 runs safely in the end. Tambe finished the match with a gigantic six over long on. Dhull remained unbeaten on 20 off 26 deliveries. Bangladesh pacer Mondol’s breathtaking spell of 4-31 went in vain as India won their seventh quarter-final out of the nine they have played in the U-19 World Cups by five wickets.
India U-19 meet Australia u-19 in the second semi-final on February 2
India will now play Australia in the second semi-final of ICC U-19 World Cup 2022 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on February 2. The first semi-final will be played between England Colts and Afghanistan Colts at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua a day earlier on February 1.
The final of the Youth World Cup 2022 will be played on February 5.
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