As India crushed Ireland by a massive 201 runs on Thursday, essentially securing a spot in the Super Six stage of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa, thanks to a brilliant century from Musheer Khan. Thanks to Musheer's blitzkrieg, India amassed an impressive 301 for 7 against Ireland, which would have been difficult to better given their score of 118 from 106 balls. Ireland ended up scoring a pitiful 100 in 29.4 overs, mostly thanks to medium pacer Naman Tiwari (4/53 in 10 overs) and left-arm spinner Saumy Kumar Pandey (3/21 in 9 overs). Not one but seven Irish batters reached double figures. The Indian squad simply outperformed the Irish team.
India has now won both of its group league matches, thus it should be an easy win versus the USA, a "mini-India" consisting of eleven foreign players with Indian ancestry.
But Musheer, an 18-year-old Mumbai kid, had the best day. Musheer paced his innings superbly, scoring nine fours and four sixes on the same day that his older brother Sarfaraz scored 161 in an unofficial Test match against the England Lions in Ahmedabad, hundreds of kilometers away in Bloemfontein.
"We both have the same style of play. I am very happy but not satisfied as I need to play much better in the coming games. In the last match, I was in a bit of a rush but today I was patient and waited for the loose deliveries. The six I hit over mid-wicket off the fast bowler was special. All thanks to Almighty Allah," Musheer said after the match.
After scoring the first 50 runs off of 66 balls, he needed just 34 balls to get 100 off 50. Although facing a lesser bowling attack, the young Indian hitters did well, with Musheer adding 156 along with captain Uday Saharan (75 off 84 balls).
After all, India passed 300 runs, the greatest score in a U-19 international at this venue, thanks to a century and a half from Sachin Dhas, arguably the most interesting player in the U-19 lineup.
In the final ten overs, India scored 119 runs. But Musheer's outstanding game awareness came to light during the Indian innings as he patiently built up to launch a vicious attack on the Irish bowlers.
Extremely powerful on the on-side, all of his maximums occurred in the space between long on, deep mid-wicket, and square leg. Oliver Riley (3/55) the opposition's best pacer was treated with contempt by him as he hit two sixes.
Saharan, who was Adarsh Singh's backup in the first game, was excellent as an anchor once more, turning the strike nicely and allowing Musheer to play his natural attacking style.
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